On the ever-thorny subject of cyclists paying “road tax”, I present a couple of interesting and well informed arguments against the barmy idea that it is.
I Pay Road Tax, a campaign to raise awareness of how the UK’s roads are actually paid for by everyone through general taxation, not just motorists and the “road tax” (VED), has this in-depth exploration of the history of vehicle taxation and road funding in the UK. Don’t worry, it’s more interesting than I’ve made it sound.
Cyclists don’t pay road tax, they shouldn’t be on the roads; roads are for cars.
Road tax doesn’t exist. Hasn’t done since 1936. Those little perforated discs pay for Vehicle Excise Duty. VED for short. It’s not a road tax, it’s a car tax, a tax on vehicles with motors.
Over at Cycling Info, Tejvan Pettinger has a great economic analysis explaining in hard monetary terms why cyclists shouldn’t just not be taxed but should actually be subsidised.
Higher Pigovian taxes for Motorists! Subsidies for cyclists! Let’s try and achieve a Pareto optimal outcome on our roads!
Catchy slogan, no?
Do you know of any other great “cyclists paying road tax” articles? Let me know!
I’m sure you can do something with the “Pareto Optimal” part of that. Stick with it, it might just work… :) Brilliant post.