Oregon Proposes Bicycle Tax

By Outside Online
Apr 11, 2009

Comments (2)

Oregon's spandex-clad cyclists are splitting at their seams in anti-establishment anger after Republican state Representative and non-hipster Wayne Krieger proposed a bill in the state's House that would charge bike owners a $54 bike registration fee every two years. The bill proposes a handful of other small fees for licensing transfers or tampering with a bike's serial number.

Portland, the state's largest city, is considered one of the most bike friendly in the country. The state as well as the city of Portland have spent millions of dollars in recent years--much of it raised through taxing motorists--expanding bike lanes and other two-wheel friendly infrastructure. Krieger cited fairness as his principal reason for driving the bill forward.

“This is an opportunity for the bicyclists to start contributing to our roads,” Krieger said in an interview with BikePortland.org. “If you want to have something that everybody is going to use, than everybody needs to contribute to what’s there… if there were not bicycles we wouldn’t need bicycle lanes.”

Oregon's motorized vehicle registration fee is also $54. Critics of the proposal have shot back that bicycles don't wear on roads and bridges as cars do, and that many people own multiple bicycles, making the cost of the mandatory registration excessive.

--Sean Brander

---

Email this post

|

Permalink

---

Related Topics: Cycling · News · Politics

---

---

Comments

[erik]

Interesting blog, nice design, i have bookmarked it for the future referrence.

[Lee Norris]

Cycling does contribute something to the road and the community. Everytime a cyclist commutes instead of drives, it lowers the demand for gasoline at the pumps. Cycling is pollution free and takes the wear and tear off the streets. Cyclists are healthier and that lowers the cost of health care for everyone.I think that if a person wanted to do good for their country, they would cycle instead of drive.