# Pay to ride in Oregon?



## rydog9991 (Jul 15, 2008)

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_031009_news_bicycle_registration.20acc011.html

I think this is awful. Wanted to hear what other think. Discuss....


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## tethernaut (Dec 11, 2008)

How 'bout joggers? They run in the street sometimes. Let's make them pay for using the streets. 'Specially them goofy lookin speed-walkers. Let's tax them too. While we're at it, why don't we make all those in wheelchairs pay for a license plate. And ponies and horses, they clop down the street sometimes. Let's tax them too...
:mad2:


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## rydog9991 (Jul 15, 2008)

tethernaut said:


> How 'bout joggers?



My thoughts exactly.


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## martinrjensen (Sep 23, 2007)

*stupid*

That's the stupidist proposal I have ever heard. Actually naive, and I think that the person pushing this probably couldn't pick a bike out of a line up. I would say that at least 50% of the roads are unfit for bicycles,and I'm not talkng about freeways. They want to charge me for riding on the roads, I want to be able to use all the roads, especially seeing as I'm not damageing any of the roads like cars do. We are supposed to be paying for maintanance costs? What does this say to making alternate transportations attractive?


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## RoadBikeVirgin (Nov 21, 2008)

#1 - Bike WILL NOT wear out the roads. Come one now. 3000 lb car. 20 lb bike. Come on now.

#2 - Could you imagine being forced to mount some type of license plate somewhere on your bicycle?? They must be expecting something like this, otherwise it'd be almost impossible to enforce.

Sounds like the local government needs some cash :mad2:


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

The guy proposing it is an anti-bike Republican ex-state trooper. It's a simple anti-bike gesture. The proposed $54 bi-annual registration fee per bike is the same as a car registration fee, and almost double the existing $30 motorcycle registration fee. On top of that, the guy completely misses the impact of bikes in urban areas other than his itty bitty little coastal hamlet, namely, decreasing car traffic to a degree that gives a measurable reduction in traffic and congestion and corresponding road wear. Even the conservative columnist on the local newspaper gets that. He's just a crank...


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## danielc (Oct 24, 2002)

They should pay me to ride my bike not the other way around! Think about the reduction in road wear and traffic.


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## ronbo613 (Jan 19, 2009)

Where I ride in the Gorge, there are very few bicycle facilities. Heck, you can't even ride a bike across the Hood River Bridge. Why should I have to pay anything to ride on the shoulder of a gravel and beer can littered blacktop?


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## Jimi_Lee (May 3, 2006)

The main sponsor of the bill, the ex-patrolman, is from the very conservative coastal town of Gold Beach. He has been quoted in complaining about bike tourists running stop signs while coming through his town on 101. Gold Beach is a popular destination for bike tourists since it is one of the last towns on the Oregon coast on as you head south on the coastal highway. I wonder how much of their economy is based off of cyclists who choose to begin or end their ride there.

On a different note, assuming that the money we would be paying for bike registration went back to serving cyclists in full, then maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe the cities would sweep the all the gravel, branches, and other crud that gets pushed into the bike lanes by cars out on any consistent basis. Maybe everyone who lives in place with a tree won't pile all their leaves in the bike lanes so they can be picked up by the city. Maybe people will start putting their trash cans, recycle bins, yard debris bins on the curb instead of the bike lanes. Maybe we will get a little respect from the city or at least some legitimacy. But why must it take $52/bike every two years to get this?

End of rant.


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## Jimi_Lee (May 3, 2006)

I forgot to post this link:
http://bikeportland.org/2009/03/06/mandatory-bike-registration-bill-introduced-in-salem/


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## RoadBikeVirgin (Nov 21, 2008)

Jimi_Lee said:


> I forgot to post this link:
> http://bikeportland.org/2009/03/06/mandatory-bike-registration-bill-introduced-in-salem/


Thanks for the info. I'll go TP his now now  (joking!)


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## MTT (Oct 14, 2005)

danielc said:


> They should pay me to ride my bike not the other way around! Think about the reduction in road wear and traffic.


Amen to that Daniel! What a joke; who is the fool that brought this bill up? What is next are they going to tax my skateboard? Morons! MTT


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

Where would that money go? Are they going to fix the roads and make it safer for the riders? Are they going to teach drivers how to not hit us with their cars: Teach them what the laws actually are?


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## MTT (Oct 14, 2005)

Can someone update us if this passes? Up here in Washington we already pay taxes on every piece of cycling equipment we buy- and that includes the bike. I pay property taxes, income taxes, registration taxes and fees, gas taxes, capitol gains, sales taxes death taxes and the list goes on and on and on. I am not a registered Republican, but sometimes I can see how that tax argument works over and over. 

The only reason I can see registering my bike is for free at the Police station, so maybe they can catch the guy that steals it..........MTT :mad2:


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Boy! Keep a close watch on this one, people. If this kinda regulation gets any support, our bike sport will be in for a big change. First, the license, then they can add on restrictions from there. Awful danger here. We don't want the politicians and cops telling us how when and where they will LET us ride, do we? Ya think they'd actually spend those proposed fees in a way that would make it better for us riding our bikes? Hah! 
Don Hanson


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## Jimi_Lee (May 3, 2006)

Geez, I hate to come off as a conspiracy theorists but this issue is a little personal to me. Where will the funding go? Better yet, who will be deciding where to spend the revenue from the registration fee? Will it be the cyclist community deciding for itself what is improvements and maintenance needs to be done or will it be a group of politicians who haven't biked since they rode their parents schwinns in college?

Registering bikes is also setting a precedent for regulation over bike ownership and use. Will we later need to start paying insurance to use our bikes on the road like a car or like all-terrain vehicles in NY? Is this a precedent we really want to set?


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

*Watch them Very very closely..*



Jimi_Lee said:


> Geez, I hate to come off as a conspiracy theorists but this issue is a little personal to me. Where will the funding go? Better yet, who will be deciding where to spend the revenue from the registration fee? Will it be the cyclist community deciding for itself what is improvements and maintenance needs to be done or will it be a group of politicians who haven't biked since they rode their parents schwinns in college?
> 
> Registering bikes is also setting a precedent for regulation over bike ownership and use. Will we later need to start paying insurance to use our bikes on the road like a car or like all-terrain vehicles in NY? Is this a precedent we really want to set?


 This is scary. Some clown has finally noticed bikes. Once that happens in government, it's gonna be hard to keep them out of our lives as bike riders. They'll take the fee money and buy bikes for 'enforcment bike cops', repeatedly raise the license fee to pay more for cops to collect the license fee and to enforce the new license law if we all blow them off. Charge us more to fight us in court(with our own money) when we try to get the law kicked out..
Keep a close watch and if this idea seems to be gaining support amongst the government, we have to really fight back hard. They never ever reduce or remove any regulation or fee once they ram it down our throats..We have to stop them right away from the start. Maybe point to the Rest Of The World...and ask why Oregon (and of course other states will follow....free money...) should be so special to charge bike riders to use their bikes...
Scary stuff..
Don Hanson


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## maximum7 (Apr 24, 2008)

Well Bicycling Mag, can cross us off the list as the most bicycling friendly city in the country..

It's obvious Mr. Krieger has a big chip on his shoulder. I will be flooding his inbox with complaints and comments daily. 
However, if paying this would actually benefit cyclists with road improvements, etc... than maybe it's not that bad of an idea. BUT, I don't think it should disguised as bicycle registration and making it a law and "forced." 
What they need to do is charge people a fee or a tax for using studded snow tires on the roads. How many millions do we pay for road repair caused by those every year?


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## ronbo613 (Jan 19, 2009)

> I pay property taxes, income taxes, registration taxes and fees, gas taxes, capitol gains, sales taxes death taxes and the list goes on and on and on


Despite not having a sales tax, Oregon has some of the highest personal income taxes and property tax in the country.
By the way; Oregon is also considering raising the taxes on locally brewed beer and want to initiate a fuel "use tax", taxing drivers _per mile_ they drive.
So don't feel like we are being singled out fellow cyclists.


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## PomPilot (May 17, 2006)

*H.B. 3008 unlikely to go forward*

Jonathan Maus on his Bike Portland site, reports that this bill is virtually dead in the water. 

It also seems that Rep. Krieger's chief of staff (his wife) feels that much of the negative input (an overwhelming amount of the total input) was "rude", and not even from their constituents.  Gee, lady. Did you really think all those riders were local? Or even from Oregon?  The pacific coast highway is a popular touring route that brings a great many visitors to near-impoverished Curry county. Guess you'd like to drive off those _tourists_ that actually spend some time traveling through, spending the night and buying supplies for the next couple of days travel, and bringing in money to the region. :mad2:


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## rydog9991 (Jul 15, 2008)

Looks like we don't have much to worry about anymore.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_031909_news_bicycle_registration.4e13b1d6.html


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## jgadamski (Mar 27, 2009)

we have to worry all the more. Rep Krueger didn't float this bill for the folks in Portland or Eugene. He wrote it to polarize folks all the more in the urban vs rural divide. He probably succeeded beyond his wildest expectation. He also got a fair amount of name recognition. 
If his constituency rallies behind him, he will play this as David v. Goliath. 

Little men are the most dangerous. We tend to underestimate them.


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## ronbo613 (Jan 19, 2009)

One thing for sure; there is a big difference between urban and rural Oregon; roughly East vs. West. They do have very different issues and needs, I don't see much compromise. Living here in the Hood River area; it's right in the middle of nearly every urban/rural argument. Great fun.


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## poorasdirt (Apr 3, 2009)

If this ever happens I won't pay any registration fee anyway. This world is already expensive enough as it is. I refuse to pay a single dollar for the right to ride my bike.


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

poorasdirt said:


> If this ever happens I won't pay any registration fee anyway. This world is already expensive enough as it is. I refuse to pay a single dollar for the right to ride my bike.


This legislation is dead & buried... It was just the rant of an old angry state legislator...


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