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Transportation officials need to a do a better job of educating the public about how Portland area roads are funded and how bike projects benefit all commuters, according to the company behind last summer's controversial "Should Cyclists Pay a Road Tax?" ad campaign on the MAX line.
The white paper about this campaign is due out later today. I'll try to keep my eye out for it.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting...ould_cycl.html
Just in case anyone is facing this same controversy in their community, here is the white paper.
http://media.oregonlive.com/commutin.../webtrends.pdf
I don't have this issue in my community but I'm glad you posted about it. My dad is a trucker and we had a huge fight this summer over cyclists and road use. I finally refused to discuss it with him because I didn't have any data to confirm what he said or to back me up (we were driving through Pennsylvania at the time). Now we can maybe talk about it again, but maybe in public so I won't yell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atlas
A few months ago there was an comment to a local news article about commuter cyclists: it was rather pathetic-funny because the commentator who clearly said he was from the suburbs driving in the downtown area, thought that there were alot of poor people because of all the cyclists!
It is strange why drivers don't see adult cyclists as taxpayers. Is it because we don't have the physical weight/baggage as a car driver has who encased in a ton of steel?? Even ..at least here in Canada, a full-time college/university student is a taxpayer.
Most of our roads and highways here are paid via provincial or municipal tax.
The argument that truckers might consider ..is if we got more cars OFF the road if people had more public transit options/infrastructure built, there would be less car congestion for the truckers. Hope Atlas your father will see some sense. Might take awhile.
Not sure if your father is aware, but the trucking industry there is a noticeable rate of substance abuse or fatigued drivers among long distance trucker drivers. I heard it directly from the construction industry workers where I worked. Some scary stories about tired or addicted transport truck drivers. I no longer assume a trucker notices me all the time when I'm beside a truck while cycling.
Thx for the article link, Sadie.