Editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal, 11/17/02:
Bikers, pay the fee, then happy trails to you The happy, healthy holier-than-thou folks who bike to work on the Capital City Trail think they ought to get a free ride. They're objecting strenuously to a proposed $10-a year fee that would provide Dane County with enough money to maintain the trail. Their objections might not be so objectionable if the bikers weren't so self righteous about the whole thing. They say they're victims of discrimination be cause car drivers aren't being asked to pay a similar fee. Then, switching adroitly out of victim mode, they frame the debate as a public health argument: Because they bike to work they spare the rest of us from auto pollution and traffic jams, and, because they make themselves healthier by biking to work they spare us from increased health-care costs. We're glad they're not polluting and we're glad they're healthy. But let's frame the debate in purely economic terms: * Car drivers are charged a fee every day for using roads: It's called the gasoIine tax. In fact, it was car drivers-not bike riders- who paid for the bike path through the federal gas tax. * The $10 fee permits bikers to use all the state's 2,100 miles of bike paths- not just the Capital City Trail * The Dane County Parks Department budget is stretched as thin as it will get. If the county has to use other money to maintain the trail, it will have to come from taxes or other park user fees. Only hubris makes bikers regard themselves as more worthy than dog walkers, skiers, mountain bikers and horseback riders - all of whose fees are increasing Bikers should pay the trail fee and save their wind for the ride home. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
