obra3

Note- with my reading of the proposed bill, only road bikes or bikes that are ridden on roads would be subject to the proposed law.

"Four members of Oregon’s House of Representatives have put forward a new bill that would require all bicycles in Oregon to be registered.

House Bill 3008 would establish a “bicycle registration and licensing system.” The bill would also create new offenses for altering bicycle serial numbers or licenses and for failure to register your bicycle.

In addition, the bill states that, “bicycle ownership information” would be made available to law enforcement agencies and that registration, renewal and other fees would go into a Bicycle Transportation Improvement Fund that would then be used to fund “bicycle related transportation improvement projects”.

The fee proposed in the bill for bike registration would be $54 and it would have to be renewed every two years for another $54."

https://bikeportland.org/2009/03/06/m...uced-in-salem/

You know what would happen to that "Bicycle Transportation Improvement Fund" during hard times? Poof. Bye bye. Used for something else.

oilman_15106

Holy cow, most states do not charge that much to register a car no less a bicycle. Your state must be desperate for money. You also can rest assured that the fees will go into the black hole of the general fund never to be seen again for anything related to cycling. Good luck getting this pork pie shot down.

obra3

Thanks oilman.... the sponsor, Rep. Krieger, a former State Police Officer, was one of two people who voted against the Vulnerable Roadway Users bill when it passed (5-4) a committee back in 2007. He felt the bill unfairly singled out motor vehicle operators and said during testimony that bike operators should hold more responsibility. Winner. Not.

Rober

When is Oregon going to wake up to the idea of sales tax and progressive income taxes?

grolby

These kinds of bills come up all the time. They fail because lawmakers with two brain cells to rub together realize that the resources to implement such a program, not to mention a sufficiently compelling reason to gather those resources, simply do not exist. You're probably safe.

jccaclimber

It won't exist to begin with. It would be like how state lotteries make millions for school systems. That works fine until the budget people subtract the same amount from their budget the next year because the lottery is now giving them money.

Restoman

This is good stuff, I bought a sea kayak from Academy sports and had to get it registered. Buying a plastic pos that should have taken 5 minutes took 1 hour. I'm still pissed and I still haven't taken it out on the water. I have to buy a lake sticker b/c it's a registered vehicle. Utter B.S.

Doohickie

So... if the state is already paying for bicycle projects, doesn't it make sense to pay your fair share?

jdott

Do any of you even use anything that will be touched by the 'bicycle transportation improvement fund'. Bike lanes that risk your life at every intersection. No thanks! Multi-use paths, aka long dog parks where cyclists are sneered at and get goat heads. No thanks! Bike parking backed up by police who spend more time on convenience store candy bar theft than the theft of a $3,000 bike. I don't think so!

I've had a bike stolen, the cops did nothing. On an average training ride, at least 10 cars blatantly violate the 3 foot law - the cops do nothing. I got hit, along with my son walking in a crosswalk, with a walk sign - the cops asked if we were OK, told the lady to look next time. A friend got hit a couple of weeks ago - nothing terrible, but his bike was banged up pretty bad. Called the police, they said they would be there soon - 3 1/2 hours later, it's dark, and we have to limp home. The interesting thing - we got stopped by a cop, for not having lights. Actually a nice guy - let us go. Thing is - the cops did nothing about the hit and run. Forget 'bicycle transportation improvement' - how about cops that give a damn/know the law/tell the truth fund?

jccaclimber

And yet they want you to register a bicycle:

(22) Class I and Class III all-terrain vehicles are exempt from
registration.
(23) Motor assisted scooters are exempt from registration.
(24) Electric personal assistive mobility devices are exempt
from registration.
(25) A racing activity vehicle that is being operated for the
purposes of a test drive within a 30-mile radius of the location
where the vehicle is manufactured is exempt from registration.

obra3

"The net revenue realized would not contribute significantly to the construction and maintenance of roads and the ancillary facilities necessary for complete streets,
• The cost of registration would discourage bicycling – a clean, healthy and sustainable transportation alternative, and
• Bicyclists already pay more than their share of road costs through other taxes. Past efforts to require bicycle registration and the experience of other communities have demonstrated that the net proceeds, after deducting the administrative costs, of bicycle registration programs are minimal."

"Many proponents of bicycle registration hold the erroneous perception that motor vehicle operators pay the costs of their use of the transportation system through gas taxes and that bicyclists do not pay their fair share of road construction and maintenance costs. In fact, the gas taxes paid by motorists are not sufficient to pay these costs. Property taxes and a variety of other fees that are levied without respect to the mode of transportation used by the taxpayer provide the balance of the road construction and maintenance funds. Bicyclists actually contribute more through these fees than the costs attributable to their use of the transportation system."

mkadam68

Thanks for this. Do you have the source?

NYJayhawk

I'd have less of a problem with registration laws if they actually did something with the revenue that actually improved my experience as a rider somehow. If they used the funding exclusively for bike path/lane development, driver education programs, public bike storage improvements, a tracking system for stolen bikes, etc.

I have no problem paying "my fair share" (which we all already do through taxes), but without any kind of payback, it's no different than things like tobacco taxes. Since it only impacts a small segment of the population, the majority can sit back and say, "who cares, as long as I'm not being charged anything for it" and it allows the politicos to avoid having anybody look into what they're actually going to spend the money on to see if it's worthwhile.

obra3

Yeah, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, shoot me a PM if you want a direct person to talk to about the source of the actual statistics.

MIN 

What a terrible way to discourage ridership. This amounts to a tax on bicycle usage without any gain for the rider. I don't think it will pass...

obra3

It'll be interesting... it would have a direct economic impact on bike shops and ancillary service providers- especially given the bike industry has a $63 million impact on the Portland regional economy. It would definitely discourage recreational and collegiate cyclists.

I'm also curious as to how they will treat the homeless who ride their bikes.

I'm hand delivering a couple letters to my representatives today so we'll see how that goes.

kyriefurro

Damn! What state do YOU live in? Last time I registered my car it was $350 for one year .

To obra3 - Thanks for the post and info. When I read your OP, I was like "what's the big deal?", but after reading your followups, you've got me convinced. If I lived in Oregon I'd be on the phone with my legislators. As it is, you've reminded me I need to do some research on the law that's been proposed here in Colorado. At first glance it, too, looks like a good idea. But I honestly haven't looked too closely at it.

And once I've learned enough to take a position, I need to write a couple of letters and/or make some phone calls.

Great post!

JeffS

Sounds like property tax, not just registration fees.

Quijibo187

looks like a great way to get those pesky tree huggers off our roads... no wait... nevermind.

If governments are looking for a way to ease congestion on roads, help the environment and lessen dependency on other countries for energy resources, this is not the way to do it.

kyriefurro

Depends on how you're defining "property tax", I guess. Technically a huge part of the fee is an "ownership tax" - that's how it's defined on your vehicle registration, which I guess makes it a property tax. However, that tax is inextricably tied to your vehicle's registration, so most of us just consider it all one animal.

Which ever way you slice it, it's still way too much money that we have to pay for the priveledge of driving on the sorry excuse for roads we have around here. And next year they're jacking the price up another $40 to pay for.....road improvement .

Flak

Bikes are classified as legal road vehicles, subject to the same rules and rights as cars yes? With that line of thinking it doesn't seem outrageous.

Meh, i live in OH though, so not my problem.

Flatballer

That would be fine, if the cost were in line with the cost of the average bicycle.

From the department of pulling numbers out of my ass, I'm going to say the average bike costs $300. Sure, our bikes all cost a lot more, but there are tons of Wal Mart bikes out there dragging the average way down.

So now this "fee" of $54 initially amounts to about 1/6 the cost of the bike, or 17%. You then have to renew it every two years, for another $54. Except two years from now, the $300 bike is now worth maybe $100. So you're paying 50% of the bike's worth, for a fee.

If we take the analogy over to cars (obvious way to go), your initial registration fee on a $20,000 car would be $3400. You would then pay another $3400 two years later, except your car is only worth about $12,000. You've now paid about $7,000 in fees for your $20,000 car that you've owned for two years. That's prohibitively high.

The Carpenter

The funds received wouldn't cover the administration costs, because only about 10% of bike owners would comply.

Brian Ratliff

I heard talk about a $25 ticket. I have five bikes. $54 * 5 = $270 for all my bikes. I'd have to be penalized 11 times in two years for this to begin making sense for me to register my bikes. And it's a 3" tall sticker. How many cops do I need to ride past before one both 1) recognizes my lack of sticker and 2) cares enough to do anything about it?

adamt

Brian, exactly. And a 3" sticker can easily be thrown on your bike too. Does not have to be theirs, but one that sorta might look like it. No laws broken unless you are trying to forge the sticker.

I think the getting busted part will come from getting pulled over for something else..run a stop sign, get pulled over, no sticker - get the fine.

the idea of putting a sticker on a 3k+ frame is a bit painful though...