10-30-2015, 08:29 AM
(10-29-2015, 10:01 PM)clasher Wrote: Since most everyone pays property taxes that pay for local roads one could probably make the case that car drivers are subsidized by bike riders that don't own cars.
People who drive on local roads more often are subsidized by people who drive on local roads less often. I think we can safely say that most cyclists are also car-owners, but every kilometer they bicycle is one kilometer they did not drive, and that's not reflected in the taxes they pay.
How roads are funded is widely misunderstood. I had an argument with someone not too long ago about bike lanes (and whether he was entitled to block one when needed with his car...) and the argument I received was that "bicyclists don't pay taxes, so they don't pay for the roads." When I replied that there's no way to know if a cyclist is a property owner paying property taxes directly, or a renter paying them in directly, most are paying taxes that fund the roads, the reply was that cyclists don't pay gas taxes. What's to make of that.
In so many ways, heavy drivers are subsidized. But one clear way is that a (large) proportion of your property taxes go to pay for roads, and most of the roads make little or no accommodation for any users besides cars. And the amount you pay doesn't change based on how much or little you use those roads.