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Today's Picture: That's me, the Car-Free Guy, pumping gas into an approved, one-gallon container. So, for those of you who may choose to believe bicyclists aren't paying their way, take a careful look, you won't see this again for a long time.
No, I don't own a car. But I still pay plenty toward roads and parking facilities that aren't exactly welcoming to cyclists and pedestrians.
We all pay way more than we should for highways, parking, taxes, health problems caused by inactivity, and the transportation "tax" included in everything we buy – all because we depend almost exclusively on our personally owned automobiles.
What's more, according to the Federal Highway Administration, 92 percent of the funds that pay for local roads come from property, income and sales taxes. Not surprisingly, none of those have anything to do with the form of transportation you choose. Everyone pays those taxes. But, sadly, few of our roads offer adequate access to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. We have several bridges to accommodate automobiles, but not one that's safe for bicycles.
Even if I don't choose to own an automobile, I have the opportunity to subsidize everyone else who does.
On Friday night, my sweetheart Sarah let me know that her '94 Honda ran out of gas after a long trip home. She simply hadn't keep an eye on the gas gauge. So I caught a ride after dinner with friends Joe and Suzanne Ward up to the Speedway gas station. I took my one-gallon can, filled it to the brim, and returned home to get Sarah's car started. Then (GASP!) I drove back to speedway to pump $39.98 worth of gasoline in Sarah's car. It's the least I can do to chip in for all the times I take advantage of the convenience of her car, when I really need it. Thanks, Sarah.
So, you could say this car-free experiment isn't truly free after all. “There ain't no such thing as free lunch” said a columnist in the El Paso Herald-Post, on June 27, 1938 – and I might add that there ain't no such thing as a free ride either.
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PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.
freewheelin
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Enjoy the ride home.
See you at pedalaround.blogspot.com
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