Latest on "b-b-but you don’t pay gas taxes!"

[DaveK]

@ShawnoftheDread 44632 wrote:

I have one of these, with an 80″ screen in front of it. I call it the home drive-in.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2456[/ATTACH]

A Holden Ute with a big V8 would make a very, very nice bikemobile.

I think that makes me a bogan – Will, confirm/deny?

[Bilsko]

Another important distinction is what road type we’re talking about here – Freeways, many Highways and other high-speed roads are funded in a higher proportion from gas taxes than from general fund monie$ – at least a higher proportion than ‘surface roads’. In a place like DC with a relatively tiny fraction of freeway miles compared to surface street miles, the effect is more notable. -It’s why only 4% of DC roads are paid for by User Fees/Fuel Tax, etc.

The WashCycle has writtten pretty extensively about the subsidization question over the past few years.

A related, but slightly offtopic issue is that of congestion pricing for vehicles. Some interesting ways to ‘frame’ the idea of congestion pricing to make it more palatable: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/02/road-farecongestion-pricing.html

I like the double entendre of “road fare”

[vvill]

@DaveK 44637 wrote:

A Holden Ute with a big V8 would make a very, very nice bikemobile.

I think that makes me a bogan – Will, confirm/deny?

Given the ubiquity of V8 Holden Utes I’d have to say it depends on other factors. Like the paint job.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@vvill 44647 wrote:

Given the ubiquity of V8 Holden Utes I’d have to say it depends on other factors. Like the paint job.

Something I learned today: Aussies have their own El Caminos! My image of them as Southern Hemisphere rednecks is really holding up (vvill notwithstanding).

[dbb]

@Bilsko 44638 wrote:

Another important distinction is what road type we’re talking about here – Freeways, many Highways and other high-speed roads are funded in a higher proportion from gas taxes than from general fund monie$ – at least a higher proportion than ‘surface roads’. In a place like DC with a relatively tiny fraction of freeway miles compared to surface street miles, the effect is more notable. -It’s why only 4% of DC roads are paid for by User Fees/Fuel Tax, etc.

I suppose that is another reason why we shouldn’t ride bikes on limited access roadways such as the interstate highway system.

[Bilsko]

@dbb 44657 wrote:

I suppose that is another reason why we shouldn’t ride bikes on limited access roadways such as the interstate highway system.

Methinks someone needs to go watch the Semi drafting scene in “Breaking Away“

Aargh – start video at 2:15 (the Youtube functionality doesn’t appear to work in the forums)
[video=youtube_share;J1jzs6dk4bs]http://youtu.be/J1jzs6dk4bs?t=2m16s[/video]

[dbb]

It would take a tow-bar to get me to that kind of speed, drafting or not. The road the semi was on was just a country road that we all ride on occasionally (note the double yellow line right at the beginning of the referenced segment).

I will defer to the real experts, but I think the only roadway type where bikes are consistently prohibited are the interstate system. Yeah, I know that bikes are banned from the GWMP but I ascribe that to a local perversion.

[GuyContinental]

@dbb 44680 wrote:

I will defer to the real experts, but I think the only roadway type where bikes are consistently prohibited are the interstate system. .

Corridor H (48/55) through WV is clearly marked for bikes on the shoulder despite the 4 lanes and 80mph speeds. It helps that traffic volume can be measured in single digits per minute… Still, there are some legit 10% downhills where a crazy person could go very very fast.

[DismalScientist]

Bicycles are allowed on freeways in the Mountain West where there are no alternative parallel roads. In fact, the TransAmerica Trail takes I-80 between Sinclair, WY and the Saratoga, WY exit. Freeway riding is not stressful at all. The road is obviously well graded and the 12 foot paved shoulder is like your own huge bike lane. Cars and trucks passing at 80 mph isn’t an issue either. Often, they will change to the left lane out of courtesy.

[Bilsko]

@dbb 44680 wrote:

It would take a tow-bar to get me to that kind of speed, drafting or not. The road the semi was on was just a country road that we all ride on occasionally (note the double yellow line right at the beginning of the referenced segment).

I will defer to the real experts, but I think the only roadway type where bikes are consistently prohibited are the interstate system. Yeah, I know that bikes are banned from the GWMP but I ascribe that to a local perversion.

Southern Indiana in the late 70s…yeah probably just another country road.

As for standardized prohibition of bicycles, its a good question. It would appear that in some states at least, non-motorized travel (including bicycles) is not prohibited on freeways – particularly when there is no viable alternative.
Wyoming, who knew?

[mstone]

There are a number of instances out west where they upgrade a road to interstate standards and there aren’t any others for a long way.

[consularrider]

@Bilsko 44673 wrote:

Methinks someone needs to go watch the Semi drafting scene in “Breaking Away“

Aargh – start video at 2:15 (the Youtube functionality doesn’t appear to work in the forums)
[video=youtube_share;J1jzs6dk4bs]http://youtu.be/J1jzs6dk4bs?t=2m16s[/video]

The scene was filmed on the downhill segment on northbound Indiana 37 just south of Martinville. The speed limit at the time was 55 mph. Ind 37 was improved from a two lane highway to a four lane (but not limited access) not too many years before Breaking Away was filmed. For many years an Indiana State trooper lived on on that stretch and his take home car was frequently parked where it was visible from the highway. Sure slowed down the speeders who weren’t from around there. While I have never ridden that stretch, I know others who have. The annual October Hilly Hundred Sunday route crosses Ind 37 at the base of the hill coming from the lunch break,

[Terpfan]

@DismalScientist 44685 wrote:

Bicycles are allowed on freeways in the Mountain West where there are no alternative parallel roads. In fact, the TransAmerica Trail takes I-80 between Sinclair, WY and the Saratoga, WY exit. Freeway riding is not stressful at all. The road is obviously well graded and the 12 foot paved shoulder is like your own huge bike lane. Cars and trucks passing at 80 mph isn’t an issue either. Often, they will change to the left lane out of courtesy.

This is where I would like to be riding on the shoulder against traffic, not with it. Not that my spiderly-like reflexes would be able to divert from an 80mph vehicle, but somehow the notion gives me a little more sense of comfort.

[KLizotte]

Washington Post article today on how regressive “free” parking is.

Another argument against people who criticize bikers for not “paying for the roads”.

“Regulations that require developers to bake those [parking] costs into shopping centers, offices or apartment buildings — whether people intend to drive there or not — are a matter of inequality, Shoup argues. They force people who don’t drive to subsidize those who do. They assume everyone does drive when many people can’t.”

Warning: don’t read the comments. They will make your head explode.

[Author]

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