Oregon bicycle owners beware!

[Aint Doody]

Well, my blood is boiling. A cyclist-hating state representative in Oregon is sponsoring a bill to initiate the registration of bicycles. They want to charge the same fee for registering a bicycle as to register a vehicle. You won't believe this:

http://bikeportland.org/2009/03/06/m...em/#more-15779

I've emailed these guys sponsoring this bill as well as my state representative.

[uforgot]

That could get pretty expensive if you have multiple bikes. Also, like some of them said, do you have serial numbers on handmade bikes?

[SadieKate]

So your 10 year old rides a handmedown bike to school. He better start saving his pennies now - and he'll get an early indoctrination into the ways of the DMV.

[jobob]

How absurd. Good luck getting that thing struck down.

[smilingcat]

Don't take this lightly. Smack it down before it gets any sort of life. I've been getting involved with advocacy for few things. And one thing I'm finding out is that don't take it for granted.

Start a letter writing and phone calling effort now and put a stop to it immediately. See what happened to prop 8 in California.

I know Portland is really bike friendly and bike-centric. Just don't be complacent about the whole thing. And don't assume someone else will carry your banner.

smilingcat

[Tuckervill]

Registering bikes is nothing new, really. I have two bikes in my garage from 1974, and they both have bike license plates on them from the city of Denver, with the date and everything, all official. In my small town in Illinois, our bikes were registered with the police department, in case of theft. It didn't cost anything.

I question the cost in the bill proposed, and we sure don't want that kind of thing to spread around. But I do have to ask, since Oregon has so many facilities for bikes (lanes and paths), who does pay for all that if not cyclists? I realize that many cyclists also drive cars and pay property taxes that probably pay for bike lanes. I think it's a valid question.

The former trooper does seem to have an axe to grind, though.

Karen

[SadieKate]

Licensing bikes is one thing. $54 for each and every bike bike without regard is another. A contact at a LBS just emailed me and said it does look like the bill is going down in flames but I haven't done any research on it myself.

Of course, Oregon is also proposing raising beer taxes 1900%. That ought to be good for our local small breweries.

Apparently, moderation is not in our reps vocabulary.

Sort of like requiring ethanol in our gasoline, which means our fuel mileage has gone down and our gas consumption has gone up.

[SadieKate]

But I do have to ask, since Oregon has so many facilities for bikes (lanes and paths) . . .

It depends on where you are in Oregon.

[Irulan]

that's more than we pay in washington state for CARS.

[Eden]

Yeah - what she said....

From what I understand, this guy basically does have an axe to grind with cyclists and this whole thing is a stunt to get his views aired.... It is doubtful it will pass, but stranger things have happened. Of course $54 every two years is ridiculous... places that have bike registrations do it to try to curb theft and the fee is usually something like $5 for life... Many people would not be able to afford a fee that large, and many people (and in all likely hood those who need them the most) have bikes with a resale value less than one or two payments of the proposed fee...

[madscot13]

that is more for a permit for my canoe, where the money goes to upkeep of minnesota water ways and is less than a motor boat.

I suppose I would not mind a small registration fee if that money actually went to something dedicated to bikes such as bike lanes, direct trails, and biking amenities like bike lockers and showers at work. I would much prefer that instead of parking lanes for cabs and other miscellaneous cars, a scraped up bike that someone felt the need to bash around, and smelling like diesel and sweat.

[ilima]

I question the cost in the bill proposed, and we sure don't want that kind of thing to spread around. But I do have to ask, since Oregon has so many facilities for bikes (lanes and paths), who does pay for all that if not cyclists? I realize that many cyclists also drive cars and pay property taxes that probably pay for bike lanes. I think it's a valid question.

There is a misconception that tag fees are funneled directly back to roads. They're not. Money for roads and bike lanes comes from general funds and often from the federal government.

It's beneficial for drivers (at least that don't like being stuck in traffic) to have as many people moved to the bike lanes as possible.

Bikes lanes benefit everybody, not just those that actually ride a bike on them.

[beccaB]

I hope our Governor doesn't hear about that proposal. Michigan is really hurting and a lot of fees have been added and existing ones going up. I voted for her twice, but it's getting so expensive to live here the state of Michigan is going to become a ghost town in a few years. On a side note, my daughter had to register her bicycle at her college but it was free.

[Tuckervill]

There is a misconception that tag fees are funneled directly back to roads. They're not. Money for roads and bike lanes comes from general funds and often from the federal government.

I guess that depends on the state. In Arkansas, fuel taxes, vehicle registration fees, taxes on heavy trucks, and of course, federal funds pay for roads. Our vehicle registration fee is less than $25, though.

So that's what I was asking, where does the money come from for bike lanes in Oregon? There must be some federal money involved, but where else?

Karen

[Aggie_Ama]

Wow in Texas I pay $71 to register my vehicles. Of course we do have miles and miles of chip seal.