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Even if the argument that startups using the bike lane will help push the local government to improve bike infrastructure is true (which I doubt, it'd push the
by Osmose 5y ago
Even if the argument that startups using the bike lane will help push the local government to improve bike infrastructure is true (which I doubt, it'd push the local government to improve startup-friendly road infrastructure), isn't it ridiculous that the local government would only start improving things once a startup could make a ton of money off of it?
- hytdstd 5y agoUltimately, the government picks winners and losers with spending/subsidy and taxation. It's not politically feasible or practical to exhaustively enumerate and tax/subsidize the external costs/benefits of various policies. For example, there are numerous positive externalities associated with installing bike lanes(reduced health care costs, reduced noise, reduced pollution, reduced road wear, etc), but it's all at the cost of possibly increasing road congestion. Of course, local governments are extremely unlikely to improve bike lanes at the behest of a single startup. Bike lanes are already extremely unpopular as is, when the primary users are common neighbors and citizens.