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Maybe if we stopped taxing the living crap out of everything else, we could afford them. I'm very pro bike (writing this as I've walked in from a 35mi ride ton

Maybe if we stopped taxing the living crap out of everything else, we could afford them. I'm very pro bike (writing this as I've walked in from a 35mi ride tonight). Ebikes allow people that are not in the best of shape to get moving. It's worked miracles for some people and is a gateway to better health. If we haven't learned yet, subsidizing has a way of creating glut, waste and abuse. How do you think Comcast got entrenched? How do you think recreation.gov came to be? The thought behind "hey we should subsidize ebikes" is a good one. Unfortunately it's the wrong solution.

croes 3y ago
I doubt that taxes are the problem. More like higher taxes for some and higher wages for others.
- hackeraccount 3y ago
  Don't tax him, don't tax me, tax the man behind the tree.
- exabrial 3y ago
  Taxing someone $10k to give them back $500 as an incentive to buy an ebike, while keeping the rest isn’t a good plan. That’s my point. It’d be better to just leave them with their money for multiple reasons.
s0rce 3y ago
I don't really understand comcast or recreation.gov related to direct to consumer subsidies that likely actually create systemic savings on transportation infrastructure greater than the cost of the subsidy. I do think that we should build infrastructure and penalize driving significantly which would encourage bike riding but subsidies don't seem like they will hurt nor create some weird monopoly like you suggest.
KennyBlanken 3y ago
> If we haven't learned yet, subsidizing has a way of creating glut, waste and abuse. looks over at the massive, entrenched, systemic subsidization of low-occupancy motor vehicles "Use fees" don't cover the costs of just roadway maintenance and construction in any state in the US. They typically make up much less than half. Then there's all the other costs we as a whole subsidize, like police/fire/ems resources used responding to dangerous drivers and crashes, which tend to be dominated by low-occupancy passenger vehicles. Professionally driven vehicles for cargo and people are involved in far, far fewer incidents.
throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
Comcast came to be entrenched because of the free market and lobbying, and recreation.gov came to be because the government admitted it sucks ass at IT and was willing to pay extra to avoid another boondoggle.
sleepybrett 3y ago
i think WA state now has an ebike rebate program, it's only a few hundred dollars but i do appreciate the encouragement.

croes 3y ago

I doubt that taxes are the problem. More like higher taxes for some and higher wages for others.

hackeraccount 3y ago
Don't tax him, don't tax me, tax the man behind the tree.
exabrial 3y ago
Taxing someone $10k to give them back $500 as an incentive to buy an ebike, while keeping the rest isn’t a good plan. That’s my point. It’d be better to just leave them with their money for multiple reasons.

s0rce 3y ago

I don't really understand comcast or recreation.gov related to direct to consumer subsidies that likely actually create systemic savings on transportation infrastructure greater than the cost of the subsidy. I do think that we should build infrastructure and penalize driving significantly which would encourage bike riding but subsidies don't seem like they will hurt nor create some weird monopoly like you suggest.

KennyBlanken 3y ago

> If we haven't learned yet, subsidizing has a way of creating glut, waste and abuse. looks over at the massive, entrenched, systemic subsidization of low-occupancy motor vehicles "Use fees" don't cover the costs of just roadway maintenance and construction in any state in the US. They typically make up much less than half. Then there's all the other costs we as a whole subsidize, like police/fire/ems resources used responding to dangerous drivers and crashes, which tend to be dominated by low-occupancy passenger vehicles. Professionally driven vehicles for cargo and people are involved in far, far fewer incidents.

throwawaaarrgh 3y ago

Comcast came to be entrenched because of the free market and lobbying, and recreation.gov came to be because the government admitted it sucks ass at IT and was willing to pay extra to avoid another boondoggle.

sleepybrett 3y ago

i think WA state now has an ebike rebate program, it's only a few hundred dollars but i do appreciate the encouragement.