This isn’t NEWS in the late-breaking sort of way, but rather if-you-haven’t-read-it-it’s-news-to-you sort of way. Bicycle registration is a particularly poor subject with me, not because I’ve ever been hassled for not having one, or because one of my bikes was stolen and never returned – but more so because I hear a lot of stories from folks on the topic.
I hear the broken english from the Latin-descent dishwasher that needs his $80 WalMart bike to get around, but has it confiscated and a fine of more than $100 issued because he couldn’t make it to the local fire house on the weekend between the hours of 9am-12noon.
Or the Vietnamese woman that uses her bike to cruise up and down alleyways as she digs recyclables out of the trash – her bike was licensed, and stolen. She didn’t have the little yellow registration paper, but she knew her name, knew the make/model/color of the bike. She went to the police and asked them to look up her info in the registration database – the police didn’t know what database she was referring to.
There was also the 60-something cyclists that met up for a group ride and were rounded up and cited for various things, including not having their bikes licensed.
Recently the LAPD Police Chief recommended the disbanning of the bicycle license law.
———————————————————–
BTA Opposes Bike Registration Bill
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance opposes bicycle registration and other annual fees on bicycle ownership because:
• The net revenue realized would not contribute significantly to the construction and maintenance of roads and the ancillary facilities necessary for complete streets,
• The cost of registration would discourage bicycling – a clean, healthy and sustainable transportation alternative, and
• Bicyclists already pay more than their share of road costs through other taxes.
Past efforts to require bicycle registration and the experience of other communities have demonstrated that the net proceeds, after deducting the administrative costs, of bicycle registration programs are minimal. Discussions of these proposals during prior legislative sessions have demonstrated that bicycle registration is not a viable method for funding transportation facilities. Most other states and communities with registration programs have discontinued them for this reason.
Bicycling provides a clean, healthy and sustainable alternative mode of transportation. The costs of providing facilities to accommodate and encourage bicycling are minimal in comparison to the value derived by reducing the impacts of our present reliance on motor vehicles for transportation. Rather than discouraging bicycling by requiring cyclists to pay even more of the costs imposed by motor vehicle operation, policy makers should be exploring ways to make bicycling safer, more convenient, and accessible for all citizens.
Many proponents of bicycle registration hold the erroneous perception that motor vehicle operators pay the costs of their use of the transportation system through gas taxes and that bicyclists do not pay their fair share of road construction and maintenance costs. In fact, the gas taxes paid by motorists are not sufficient to pay these costs. Property taxes and a variety of other fees that are levied without respect to the mode of transportation used by the taxpayer provide the balance of the road construction and maintenance funds. Bicyclists actually contribute more through these fees than the costs attributable to their use of the transportation system.
Do you have your bike licensed?
