[fflint]

Originally Posted by mthd

^^^ if the bike coalition really thinks the system is too small, how about they come up with some money to expand it? lately they seem to be a broken record of want, want, want - but they don't want cyclists to pay for any of it.

The new bikeshare system will have both membership dues and an hourly fee that kicks in after the first half-hour.

transit riders pay half their costs at the fare box

Muni's fare recovery rate was only 22% last year. Public transportation is heavily subsidized by the public at large via general funds.

drivers pay the gas tax

Roadways are also heavily subsidized by the public at large. Gas taxes pay only half the cost of maintaining highways--the other 50% is funded through general tax funds, which bicyclists pay into just like everyone else. In San Francisco specifically, federal and state gas tax revenue funds almost none of the maintenance of city roads. And that's not even touching on how the gas tax pays nothing at all toward mitigating all of the externalized costs of driving.

pedestrians hardly use any infrastructure which isn't needed for other purposes (basic access to buildings), but cyclists don't pay a dime and are demanding incredibly expensive infrastructure which also detracts from the capacity of the other modes. it's a real problem.

First, bicyclists do indeed pay a dime, as noted above, by paying taxes into the general funds that are then used to subsidize transit riders and motorists. Bicyclists actually subsidize motorists, not vice-versa.

Second, a full build-out of the SF Bike Plan would incur a one-time cost of $500 million for infrastructure, plus $14 million annually in maintenance. This sounds like a lot, but it's nothing compared to public expenditures on roads and transit, which leads to my third point:

Those who travel exclusively by bike receive negligible public investment despite paying taxes at the same rate as everyone else. Even in bike-friendly and prosperous San Francisco, the SFMTA currently only allocates 0.46% percent of its capital spending on bicycling infrastructure. Less than 1% goes to bicycling--99% goes to everything but bicycling.

You couldn't be more wrong about how much cyclists actually pay into the system and how little cyclists actually get in return.

as a pedestrian and transit user, i think it's great that cycling is becoming more popular. but quite frankly I don't want to pay for it.

Fortunately for the city, the environment and future San Franciscans, you are part of a small and cranky minority when it comes to the desire to fund bicycle infrastructure: