Media Blacklist Edition 1: Terence Corcoran - Bicycle Bigot

Who's really getting a free ride, cyclists or motorists?

Take a look at Terence Corcoran's article. He is an editor for Canada's National Post, and, with the national scope of his argument aside, has some very strong opinions about taxing cyclists that are just plain ignorant.

I will let this bigot speak for himself:

But bike riders pay nothing, even though the cost of urban bicycle infrastructure, operating risks and potential liabilities are mounting. Bikers are getting a free ride that all non-bikers are paying for.

This is just not true! Some might believe that because cyclists are not paying fuel taxes and licensing fees, they are not paying for roads, but it should be argued that cyclists actually subsidize the cost of roads for drivers. If you're still not sure that Corcoran is sorely mistaken, if not an altogether discreditable liar, I challenge you to take his next claim seriously.

And then there's the carbon footprint. When car drivers cruise Yonge Street on Saturday night, their metabolisms are more or less flat-lined. They just sit there, burning up little energy personally but paying for the cost of their automobile's carbon footprint via taxes and fees. Bike riders grinding up the same route burn up a lot more carbohydrates, which their bodies convert into carbon dioxide and exhale, adding to their carbon footprint. The volumes are small, but it all adds up, and bicyclists don't pay.

Wow! That's right, a breathing tax. Why not tax every man, woman, and child to deal with the carbon emissions they produce by breathing? Corcoran may not see a reason not to.

Back on track, James D. Schwartz, a writer for The Urban Country helped me find a 2004 study by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute that found that those who do not operate a car full-time or at all, including cyclists, do actually subsidize drivers.

Since bicycling and walking impose lower roadway costs than motorized modes,
people who rely primarily on nonmotorized modes tend to overpay their fair
share of roadway costs and subsidize motorists.

Since most cycling and walking happens on local roads, we are not going to worry about highway funding. With this in mind, in the 2002 the U.S. spent $27.9 billion dollars on local roads, but only $3.1 billion was sourced through user fees, leaving $24.8 billion paid by general taxes that are paid by drivers, cyclists, and everyone else alike.

Now, considering the higher demands cars put on our road infrastructure, including increased wear and the need for much more space to allow the same number of people transport -- just to name a couple key examples. Who is really paying more for their fair share of the road? You might find it shocking, but cyclists are.

So I say to Mr. Terence Corcoran, maybe you should be paying those who use alternate forms of transportation -- those who are subsidizing the cost of driving your automobile -- instead of slathering on unfounded bias, and encouraging motorists to continue disrespecting bicyclist's right to the road.

Learning that some media authorities are plainly contrived liars can be hard to stomach. Hopefully future editions of "Media Blacklist" will help soften that blow.

Photo credit: greenpeace.org