When the discussion boils down to “tax money,” as it always does, we need to be informed as to what modes of transportation actually cost society the most.
Of all the boring rebuttals to building bike lanes, pedestrian overpasses or more public transit infrastructure, few are more boring than: “who’s gonna pay for it?”
Or, mores specifically, something like: “I don’t wanna pay for people to ride bikes!”
Of course, these rebuttals, or attempts at them, are invariably given by car-commuters, who want their precious tax dollars used to widen highways, build bridges and construct parking garages… you know, so we can all subsidize their decision to live in the suburbs and work downtown.
But what really costs us money?
We are so used to billion-dollar highway upgrades we barely bat an eye at them—often universally agreeing they’re necessary. After all, traffic is terrible everywhere. Surely it’ll improve with one more lane, right?
Well, a lot of folks smarter than you or I have looked into it. And it turns out there is nothing—and it’s not even close—that is more subsidized than personal vehicle transportation.
Not only is it by far the most costly to the consumer—average ownership costs of new cars are topping $10,000 per year, per vehicle—but every single taxpayer has to foot the bill for your privilege to drive.
Take a look at the below chart (credit in image):
But what does it mean? Well, simplified, the above figures show that if a specific type of transportation costs you $1, society pays the corresponding amount.
So when you walk, the cost breakdown of building sidewalks and crosswalks, applied to the lessened healthcare costs of living a sedentary lifestyle—etcetera, etcetera—add up to a societal cost of just 1% of the individual cost.
Biking—building bike lanes, signage, health, etc.—means society pays the equivalent of 8% of what it cost you to buy and ride your bike.
Busses—well, these are more expensive, right? No big surprise as they require similar infrastructure to personal vehicles, but the mass-transit and efficiency of them means transit is only subsidized to the tune of 50%.
Which may seem like a lot. Until you get to personal vehicles.
When you add up all the societal costs of a car-dependant society, you’ll see that every driving is subsidized to the tune of 920%.
Read that again: 920% subsidization rate. There are few, if any, programs in the world that get a similar amount of subsidization. (Most can barely exceed 100% by nature.)
So when that commuter burps out, “who’s gonna pay for that walkway?” Or “why should my tax dollars fund bike lanes?” Just remind them that the tax burden for active transportation is barely measurable.
That car of yours though, well… if you want to save taxes—for everybody—you’re gonna wanna ride a bike.