baltimorespokes

By Robin Chase, CEO, GoLoco, Meadow Networks

“User pays” was the foundational concept and an interesting one to reflect on. The question notes that current gas taxes inadequately cover even simple maintenance requirements on existing roads, yet the phrase resonates strongly with drivers. They sincerely believe that they have paid for all that is required with their gas taxes at the pump.

If the road user really paid what driving costs to maintain, what driving costs to widen and build new, what driving costs in police forces, emergency personnel and equipment, lifetime effects of accident road deaths and injuries, watershed destruction, groundwater and run-off pollution, excess asthma rates, higher incidence of heart disease and negative effects for those living near highways, congestion, and CO2 emissions (etc, my list is truncated), we wouldn’t be in the unfunded situation we are in today.

Also, if “user pays” included all those “externalities” (so many things in quotes), it would seem perfectly appropriate for the gas tax to include pedestrian and sidewalk improvements, mass transit, electric charging stations, and environmental remediation efforts because all of those things are attempts to mitigate the real and costly negative impacts caused by the car-driving users.

At the end of the day, if we take political realities into account, the one thing I ask for is for drivers to truly understand what their fuel tax is actually paying for, and what is quietly and covertly being subsidized by their other taxes. Because we haven’t included these costs in the gas tax, we are using local, state, and government money brought in from other sources to cover the difference. When we say we don’t have enough money for education, or welfare, or parks, or elderly programs, we need to recognize that this shortfall is in part because we are paying for all sorts unfunded car-related expenses with non-gas-tax dollars.
Continue reading “But cars pay for roads…”

An “acquaintance” asks me almost every time he sees me if I still do all that crazy biking and running. … In a nutshell he said I needed to grow up and act my age. Quit running around and riding a bicycle like some little kid. He went on to claim that the only reason I do all that crazy “shit” is cause I’m in denial of my age. Huh? Boy (“Man” I guess I should say) who knows what kind of ragging I would have taken if he knew I was vegetarian. The whole scene got pretty annoying and I left.
This “acquaintance” is about 5 – 7 years younger than me, at least 70 lbs overweight, on blood thinners, has high blood pressure, and pre-diabetic. I guess he is acting his age. It seems the “norm” these days is to be kept alive by a handful of drugs. It’s generally accepted as part of “getting old”. Am I missing something? Why is something as simple as exercising and eating healthy such a difficult concept to grasp? Why is taking care of what we have been given so abnormal that people have to critize it? Why is it the accepted norm that living life on drugs (or as we like to call it “medicine”) is inevitable after 50? Umm sorry I digress. I guess he annoyed me more than I thought.
Back to this age denial thing. I know how old I am. But what does “old” mean? Sure I’m not anywhere near as fast as I was 30 years ago. But 30 years ago I couldn’t run 100 miles or mountain bike for 24 hours. …
Continue reading “Act your age”

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is vowing to make his department more responsive to the rights of cyclists, responding to growing complaints from bikers who say the city isn’t doing enough to protect them from careless and aggressive motorists.
Beck made his pledge Wednesday during a City Hall meeting with bicycle advocates, who want the department to do more to crack down on motorists who don’t respect cyclists’ right to the road.
Beck said bike riders are "our most vulnerable commuters" and that the Los Angeles Police Department needed to do a better job of protecting them.
"We hear you, we know we need to do a better job for you," Beck said.
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Continue reading “LAPD Chief Charlie Beck vows to better protect cyclists”