Cyclists should be rewarded | Delta Optimist

Editor: Re: No reason bikes should get a free ride, letter to the editor, Aug. 2 I thought I had heard it all when a complaint about air traffic noise took whininess to a whole new realm, but sadly, the outrageous letter from R.D. Grant has trumped that grumble.

As an avid cyclist and, yes, a car owner, Grant's complaints have really hit a nerve because of the ludicrous suggestion that cyclists should start paying to ride their bicycles.

The notion that cyclists should pay a licence fee must surely come from the fact bikes cause so much damage to the roads that this fee will offset the costs of repair. No? That's not it? Well then, it must be because cyclists do not pay taxes that go towards our infrastructure that includes

transit and bike lanes. Hmm, I seem to remember paying my property tax and my gas tax when I drive my car, so that can't be it.

Maybe it's because cycling is an inherently unhealthy activity that contributes to our rising health care costs. Wrong again.

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