Don’t forget to add tax.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) The Seattle Times reported today on a $10 billion transportation funding package introduced by state lawmakers. The package includes a provision that would levy $25 tax on the sale of all bicycles over $500. The tax would be one of six revenue streams and would be expected … Read more
Doing some damage.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Reader Chris S. came across a story in The Oregonian yesterday that made him do a double-take. In a report about the ‘State of the County’ event held by the Clackamas County commissioners, the topic of bicycles came up. The event allowed citizens to ask commissioners any question they’d … Read more
A bike tax has more supporters than you might think.(Photo © J. Maus) 2010 will be a year of major discussions about how to finance America’s transportation system. As the use of bicycles is taken more seriously and more money is spent on bike-centric facilities, calls for a revenue stream taken directly from people who … Read more
[This story was co-written by Elly Blue and Jonathan Maus] Scott Bricker(Photos © J. Maus) Last week the Board of Directors of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) — Oregon’s largest bicycle advocacy organization — fired Scott Bricker after he served just two years as the organization’s executive director. “What’s going on down there?” we were … Read more
“We’re not going to put our blinders on and say ‘no, we refuse to talk about it’.”–BTA lobbyist Karl Rohde One of the many interesting conversations that we’ll follow in the upcoming legislative session is the concept of a bike tax. We shared news of the tax last week and reported that the Bicycle Transportation … Read more
“There’s no way we could have put in the facilities we’ve put in in the last 20 years without the bike tax.”— A Colorado Springs city planner as told to the Gazette newspaper In light of the bike excise tax idea that is being mulled about here in Oregon, I thought I’d share a story … Read more
*[UPDATE: I have edited this story to clarify that the bike tax is not, at this time, a part of Governor Kulongoski’s Jobs and Transportation Act.] The BTA’s Karl Rohde (in red) says he supports the concept of a bike tax.(Photo J. Maus) Both Metro and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) are supportive of an … Read more