Chicago alderman proposes $25 bike tax

In an effort to raise more money for the Midwestern U.S. city, a Chicago alderman proposed a bike registration tax for cyclists. On Wednesday, Pat Dowell suggested the city’s cyclists pay $25 for their rides. She’s also in favour of mandatory safety classes.

Dowell’s tax is an alternative to Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to tax cable television, which is supposed to bring in $9 million to the city. While the mayor has said he will look at Dowell’s proposal, it is not likely that he’ll endorse it. Emanuel has worked to promote cycling in Chicago. On Oct. 14, he led a bike tour in the city on Divvy bikes, Chicago’s equivalent of Bixi. He’s also involved with such initiatives as the Bike 2015 Plan.

“She can propose it. It’s her idea. But I would argue I don’t think that’s the right way to go,” Emanuel said in the Chicago Tribune.

Taxing bicycles is a perennial topic in Canadian municipalities, such as Toronto and Vancouver. Proponents of such taxes often speak of riders paying their fair share for a city’s infrastructure. This argument overlooks the fact that most infrastructure, including roads, is paid for by property taxes, which a city’s cyclists either pay directly or indirectly through rent. Critics of bike taxes also say the cost of administering such a levy counters any proposed financial gains for a city.

In March 2013, the budget by Canada’s federal government included an increase in tariffs on bicycles from 8.5 per cent to 13 per cent.