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An issue in that "political favor" calculus is money: A) Cars have a tall stack of interest groups with money to throw around politically. Manufacturers, Deale
by WorldMaker 6y ago
An issue in that "political favor" calculus is money:
A) Cars have a tall stack of interest groups with money to throw around politically. Manufacturers, Dealerships, Gas corporations. lobbying groups including, especially, but not limited to the AAA all have skin in the game and have thrown money at politics. (In general bicycle groups are rarely as organized, rarely have much in the way of profits or income to burn on political favors.)
B) Taxes. Today roads are partly paid for with gas taxes and sometimes vehicle property taxes. A lot of motorists feel so entitled to the roads simply because they see those tax numbers directly on their gas bills and vehicle registration fees and think that they own the roads because they feel like they have the receipts. (Nevermind that there is no state in the US that entirely pays for roads out of such taxes, and the "I paid for it, so I own it" fallacy seems to refuse to ever actually prorate its "ownership" against the actual small percentages any individual contributes to the total budget.)
- selectodude 6y ago> Today roads are partly paid for with gas taxes and sometimes vehicle property taxes. Which is hilarious because road damage squares with the weight of the vehicle and bike lanes would need to be repaved maybe once per century.
- fooker 6y agoAny place with a seasonal temperature variation needs significant road repairs every 2-3 years, if not more often.
- avidiax 6y agoIs that because of the cracks formed by heavy vehicles?
- yardie 6y agoThose are potholes. A little 2-crew job. We're talking about roadwear. Where the actual asphalt grinds down to the expose the substrate. And in particularly bad cases the substrate breaks down and the road develops ruts. Potholes are a few hundred dollars in repair, roadwear is tens of thousands.
- adrianN 6y agoThe bike lanes in my city are often left basically unmaintained since the seventies and are still usable. They are of course not as nice as freshly paved.