In a recent eNewsletter, Utne Reader magazine directed my attention to an excerpt from chapter 1, “The Free Rider Myth.” In it, Blue challenges the “myth” that auto users pay for the roads they drive on.
Blue argues that drivers only pay for half the cost of our roads. The rest is paid for through sales, property or income taxes — whether or not we drive.
And much of the money goes to pay interest on loans that financed road construction projects.
Far from being “freeloaders,” car-free cyclists are “subsidizing a road system that they are largely not welcome on.”
The excerpt offers a compelling argument for the economic advantages of bicycling. From the publisher’s description, I look forward to learning more about the “contradictions, challenges, successes and visions” of the North American bicycle movement.
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