TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! CFRG: TIME TO TAX AND LICENSE BICYCLES TO HELP PAY FOR PRICEY KANSAS CITY ROAD DIET?!?!
A modest proposal puts Kansas City Bike/Walk activism in perspective and reminds us of the rising cost of securing "access" for middle-class activists.
Here's their take with highlights via TKC . . .
Citizens For Responsible Government Kansas City: Is it time to start taxing and licensing bicycles???
Recent news regarding a “Road Diet” plan being considered by City Hall that would reduce driving lanes on Wornall Rd., 39th Street and Broadway to one lane each way. The reason would be to create more lanes for bicycles and streetcars.
We have to ask, isn’t it time to consider licensing and taxing bicycles? Nothing against bicycles but we do get frustrated when we drive Broadway, Grand and Main Street several times a week from the Plaza to downtown and see how we have narrowed the streets to make room for bicycle lanes and streetcars. I hate to think how much money the city has spent painting bike lanes and creating “green safety zones” for bicycles. Yet on weekly trips, you can count the number of bicyclists using these lanes on two or three fingers. There are a few more people on the streetcars but they are no where near full. What a waste of taxpayer money.
Motorcyclists don’t have special lanes to ride in yet they are exposed to autos as much as bicyclists. Motorcyclists pay property taxes, insurance, license fees and gas taxes. I don’t think bicyclists pay anything, yet they demand more and more real estate be taken from our streets and set aside for bicycle lanes that don’t get much use. Even the bike lanes on Armour don’t seem to get much use. We’ve never seen anyone in a bike lane on Armour.
Years ago, you used to have to go to a bike shop every two years or so, have your bicycles inspected and buy a tag to be placed on each bicycle. Why not now? The City is always looking for sources of revenue, here’s an option. Why shouldn’t bicyclists pay their share to use the city streets like other users pay? Is it time to start licensing bicycles and get them on the property tax rolls?
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You decide . . .
Not sure if we should tax all bikes but adults should pay a bike tax and get a sticker from the city. The author is correct, we used to to that here but the practice was frowned upon. Now with all of this money spent on a small group of activists. It's time to reconsider.
ReplyDeleteInstead of taxes, we need to get some members of council who listen to residents rather than other politicians. The improvements made for cyclists are dangerous and stupid and have already led to accidents. The "road diet" is a disaster, this is what happens when you let amateurs design streets.
DeleteThe road diet is one of the dumbest things I've seen in KC since I've moved here. I'm all for respecting cyclists but the way it has been implemented is just plain stupid.
DeleteDog and cat owners have to pay $10 per pet for annual city licenses. This money supposedly is used to help the city animal shelters. Many cities don't require pet licenses as long as they have their rabies shots since that is all the documentation that any city needs. Some feel the city pet license is just a way to gouge citizens for extra cash. So why not bicycles too.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea and they should have to wear a reflective vest for safety.
ReplyDeleteI agree they should pay a fee. They go to local MVD sign up get a tag that has to be renewed every year and displayed on the bike and to provide proof of insurance and follow all the rules that the other two wheeled things called motorcycles have to follow. State law needs to be made that if bike lanes are marked on a street that is where they are expected to be riding in. I'm sure local law enforcement would love to hand out tickets if they had better ways to enforce the laws applied to a motorcycle that would as well be applicable to a bike rider.
ReplyDeleteBy the bikes having a tag it allows complaints to be made in which you can provide a tag number instead of saying it was a guy in very dark clothing on a bike. Oh and the tag has to have a light on it for visibility at night.
the sidewalks are a great unused asset.
ReplyDeleteStupid and unenforcabile. 50cc and smaller scooters require a driver's license but no plates or insurance, start with them.
ReplyDeleteOr, check this: quit caring about things that don't concern you. How about that?
ReplyDeleteNo 10:19 it isn't unenforceable.
ReplyDeleteI think we don't need to call it a "Bike Tax" let's make it something that bikers would want, like a fee to say, yes I paid my fair share and I am in good standing with the rules of the road. There are a lot of people who would want to opt-in if that was the way you sold it. Maybe add insurance coverage to it with a private business. This is a great idea from CFRG. Not to be ignored.
ReplyDeleteLiberal agenda distracts from multi-million dollar developer give-aways. Does Cordish allow expensive unused bike lanes in Baltimore?
ReplyDeleteEveryone in the world hates bicyclists, except bicyclists. They're retarded and, an ironic side note, ever single one I've ever seen has looked unhealthy and been ugly as shit
ReplyDeleteBack in the day when I was a yute, we registered our bikes with the police dept for a small fee, you got to put a reflective sticker smaller than the size of a playing card that had numbers on them, think license plate stickers but bigger.
ReplyDeleteYears ago in south Missouri, near Arkansas, a farmer was having difficulty getting past two cyclists refusing to move over on a hilly, narrow two lane road. Over many hills bikers would not give any room to pass. Farmer eventually lost control and hit them.
ReplyDeleteBikers died and farmer went to jail.
Bikers should be willing to share the road.
Well good luck getting STATE LAW changed, idiots at CFRG. We'll just wait while you take that one up.
ReplyDeleteThere is some resistance into further indoctrination into Eric Bunches cult of bicycling?
ReplyDeleteWho'd a thunk it.
Come bicycle Killa' City!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI'm in agreement with it, so bikers can pay for the bike lanes instead of using go bond money which I'm sure the city is using and wasn't intended for this anyway.
Cyclists are an arrogant bunch, Eric Bunch is an idiot. They go super slow and block traffic. If I did that in my car I'd get a ticket. Police could enforce that right now.
ReplyDeleteAlso the mopeds and scooters would have to follow this law as well and share the bike lanes and all riders would have to have approved safety equipment and helmets and insurance. Bikers and bike lanes should be relegated to streets that have a 30 MPH speed limit or less. Keep them off the boulevards and multi lane streets except as they crawl across intersections, of course, following the rules of the road to yield to traffic. License the bike at $250 per year and require an endorsement on a real drivers license from the DMV. Must have insurance too. Restrict the number of cyclists that can have a "ride" to no more than 20 bikes at a time.
9:33: +1
ReplyDeleteI almost ran over a cyclist in the middle of the lane on 75th St. last week it was dark and the idiot had a dark coat on. The only thing that saved him was the reflectors on his pedals.
Merry Christmas little Johnny, here is your first bike. As soon as the state license office open up we can tag it and teach you to ride.
ReplyDeleteThe Road Diet Plan should be renamed the Car Hater Plan.
ReplyDeleteOh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!
ReplyDeleteSomething else we can tax the shit out of. We just love new and exciting thing to tax!!!!!
Extend the toy train to Omaha!
Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!
On a rural highway South of the metro with a lot of little hills. I'm rolling along at 55ish, any faster and it feels uncomfortable. Pop over a hill and there is some hipster yuppy on one of those chair-bikes, right in the middle of the lane. Locked em up right up his ass. No flag, no nothing, sitting a net total of maybe 36" above the ground. He pert near got run over that day. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. The irony of it, he probably loaded that bike into his Volvo and drove down from KC to "enjoy the scenery". I'd be fine with no bikes on roads.
ReplyDeletePlease don’t blame us cyclists for the stupid, dangerous and expensive streetscape fads that KC airhead planners are chasing e.g.”road diets” “place making” and “complete streets”. I ride from kck to east 13th downtown every day but have to avoid power and light and river market areas bc of those dangerous rough roads artificially narrowed by high curbs and lots of stupid “complete streets” amenities that simply block the flow of traffic or pedestrian flow. I hate the grand and armoire bike lanes. We cyclists want wide roads that are decently paved and have seen a street sweeper once in a blue moon. We want a way to get off the road if need be, not a stupid and dangerous high curb that forces us into traffic even if no cars are parked. We want to get as far to the right as possible. I hope to God that these MARC dimwits never ruin paseo or Gladstone blvd with these stupid road diets or place making ideas.
ReplyDeleteKind of stupid to say tax a bicycle rider though.
-Radish
Why @6:30 - they use the roads don't they?
ReplyDeleteIn fact, you're describing a higher and more expensive level of repair and maintenance than that needed for automobiles!
So please give me your rationale for the fairness of bicyclists wanting more spent on roads without any monetary contribution from themselves.
I'll wait...
I want that pink Schwinn Predator!
ReplyDeleteWhy yes you dim wit fucking fat assholes. What right do I have by not owning a car. If I had a car I would be as fat as you fucka that can’t get a date. Your giant truck won’t help.
ReplyDeleteMy medical premiums are sky high because of your fat laden arteries never see anything but bbq and beer. Your fat wife is the one that really needs a bike. She won’t get one because she doesn’t feel safe out there. I’m tired of watching you fat fucks get bigger and bigger. Your bexhicles get wider and wider to accommodate your wide ass. What a bunch of fucking losers in this town.
Try again when you sober up 8:21.
ReplyDeletebASEMENT tROLL
ReplyDeleteSharing the road means you have equal rights to the lanes. I always take the middle lane, especially during peak hours. I love to watch the wagies ragie in their cagies.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can have a sipz of my spiked monster and catch some tunes off my portable speaker blasting Reggaeton but good luck trying to take my vape pen: I'm off for a long morning of laying on the grass and the Nelson and taking pictures of clouds. I hope Mr. Shecklebergstein isn't mad you are a few minutes late!
Why don't bicycles pay gas tax? That's unfair.
ReplyDelete