Knob Magazine

After two charged, if not incoherent, op-eds by Seattle Times editor James Vesely in favor of user fees for bicycles, there was an excellent response last week by David Hiller.

The truth is that less than 3 percent of the region’s total
transportation funds are spent on bicycle and pedestrian projects and
programs, while 37 percent of the region’s population — the old, the
young, the disabled, the poor and those who don’t own cars — cannot or
does not drive. What’s more, 60 percent of Washingtonians want to walk
and bike more than they currently do. Read more.

I am always a little stunned that cities like Portland and Seattle can actually have these arguments.  The fact that so many cyclists and pedestrians actually back them is even more mind blowing. There was a time in this country when the idea of roads being part of the public commons was universally accepted.  The idea that we are at all concerned with the idea that people are paying their own way is a testament to how far right this country has gone.
The task for cycling advocates isn’t just to build bike lanes and safe routes to school.  The charge is to rebuild our faith in our communities and the value in pluralism.