“County commissioners, back away from the bicyclists and focus on more important issues.”
Two days after the Columbian newspaper reported that all three Clark County Commissioners seemed to think a bike license fee was worth looking into, the paper’s editorial board has decided that the idea is a “stinker”.
In an editorial published in today’s paper, they write:
“For all three Clark County commissioners to even consider a bicycle licensing fee begs just one question: Are these guys running out of stuff to do? Only an abundance of time on their hands could explain such an absurd notion.”
The editorial goes on to list nine reasons why commissioners should reconsider exploring the idea of a bike fee. Among the reasons include the fact that it could discourage bike use, that several other cities around the country have abandoned similar ideas, that people who ride bikes already pay many taxes that go into transportion, and the sheer absurdity of such a fee’s “narrow focus”:
“Would we charge a stroller fee to parents of babies who use sidewalks? Would we put a surcharge on walking shoes to pay for hiking paths? This gets absurd real quickly, eh?”
As per recommendation by the commissioners, the idea is set to be discussed with the City’s Bike Advisory Committee next week.