You Can’t Take the Muscle Car Out of the Boy…

It seems indignant parsing through a City Councilman’s emails with community members who are bike proponents, working citizens who probably drop money into City coffers from sales tax; probably have cool automobiles with bike-kayak racks; and more than likely patronize downtown eateries. It’s pretty telling that Bob Apple shows ignorance when it comes to bicycle safety, his hate for bicyclists, and his misstatement about bicyclists not paying taxes. Let’s start with taxes: according to the Federal Highway Administration, “92% of funds for local roads come from property, income, and sales taxes — which everyone pays for.” A 15-year-old study — “Whose Roads?” by Todd Litman — purports that automobile users pay an average of 2.3 cents per mile in user fees, including fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. The problem is that they/we impose 6.5 cents per mile in road service costs. That 4.2 cent per mile difference is made up by general taxes and property assessments. As a part-time bicyclist, I pay an equal share of those taxes, but my proclivity to bike imposes a whopping 0.2 cents per mile in road service costs. What do dedicated, regularly pedaling bike commuters do for community? • reduce congestion by taking cars off the road • reduce pollution and associated costs. • improve general health of users and reduce health care costs. • reduce gas and oil use, and dependency on Middle East oil. I am sick of automobile traffic, the malaise and predatory nature of internal combustion pilots who hate pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, people in wheelchairs, even motorcyclists. I’ve seen anti-bicyclist attitudes even in so-called bike heaven – Portland, Ore. In Seattle, I witnessed guys/gals in revving vehicles inching bumpers into crosswalks crowding pedestrians and cyclists. They are mad as hell that their fossil-fuel-driven lives are being slowed down by walkers, joggers, pedaling folk. But, really, politics isn’t about attacking people contacting an elected official unless, a, Mr. Apple can distinguish between a bicyclist who drives a car and pays taxes and is involved in a community’s well being and b, a driver who doesn’t bike and who might not be so involved in community health. Mr. Apple’s ire, poor skill at self-expression, his lack of understanding how to limit a broad brush stroke to negatively paint all bicyclists with people with the gumption enough to contact him, and his odd penchant to use false dichotomies and a “divide and conquer” form of arguing are just plain stupid coming from a politician. Emails to elected officials are public record. What is he demonstrating here? Frustration? An undeveloped thinker’s ad hominem on a concerned citizenry? Read the exchange below. ********************************************************** From: GEORGE & KAREN Friday, August 20, 2010 9:51 AM To: Apple, Bob Subject: bike lane needed on 2nd ave. Dear Bob, I am writing to express my view that a bike lane should be part of the 2nd Ave remodel. I understand there is still time for this to happen. I think a connection to the Fish Lake trail is invaluable to our city and it makes sense to do this now. Personally, I think a bike lane should be added to every street that undergoes a repair or remodel. We need to make our city as safe as possible for those folks that choose to ride their bikes as an alternative form of transportation. Thanks for your consideration! Karen Cross Momany ______________ RE: bike lane needed on 2nd ave. Friday, August 20, 2010 5:18 PM From:”Apple, Bob” To:”GEORGE & KAREN George and Karen: Well it sounds like someone has led you to believe it is free to make the changes but failed to express the realities. 3% of Spokane’s residents ride bicycles and mostly for casual or seasonal use having done so in the past I want you to also know that the intersections with 2nd Street could not possibly ever, be made safe for bicyclists. Apparently no one will also point out that we are required to provide local secondary access before the freeway paralleling east and west or the Fed might consider and remove some of those nonconforming access on and off ramps. That means we can’t bottleneck traffic on 2nd and 3rdAvenues by removing a lane of traffic and replacing it with a bike lanes but I understand for those who hate cars it is not a problem. But keep in mind that it has been cars paying for all the improvements through to you by license fees and the gas tax while the bicyclists are subsidized and with all our recent efforts to provide new trails the fanatics want more of what we do not have and that is dollars. The property owners were brought an LID (Local Improvement District) method of funding and not only laughed but do not want any bike lane that was seen as a detriment to businesses on 2nd or 3rd Avenues. So if the property owners will not pay just who prey tell will in your mind be the proper source of funds? Some would like to redirect the approved Street Bond monies as authorized by the voters but we have a legal opinion that states otherwise so how do you think a street bond for bicycles would do before the voters? And with that I think you have answered your real question. Oh, I should point out that the Complete Streets idea simply dropped us from many grant applications because if we determine that it is our intention to provide this infrastructure well then we can’t get the grants that are dedicated, to exceeding those or our established standards. Never mind we have no ability or intention of meet Complete Streets goals because we would rather have it sound good so in the end we will in our community in a year’s time be doing less and far less in time, than the impressive changes you have seen in more recent years. Of course if you haven’t see the improved lane throughout neighborhoods designated with improvements and development of even un-proprietary trails and routes well it appears this is basically, the end of those type of improvements. PS I believe Complete Streets will be on the ballot next year and will effect directly our municipal elections and in that I expect changes. We can also still espouse that $50 Billion grant possibility from the Federal Government to our community that has touted by a certain Council Member and I fear that failing will cost dearly next year. What do you think? Bob Apple __________________ From: Neil Giddings Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2010 9:54 PM To: Geo Momany; morningride@bikelist.org; Apple, Bob Subject: RE: [MR] 2ND AVE BIKE LANE RESPONSE Dear Mr. Apple: You may disagree with these taxpayers request, but your condescending and sarcastic response to a citizen with a legitimate request is an embarrassment for any elected official. How you got elected with this attitude problem is beyond me, but I am sure voters will remember this type of misplaced attitude at the next election. No wonder so many still view Spokane and its local politics as a joke for a city this size. Please remember you work for us. It is a privilege to a represent others in elected positions. You owe everyone in the city more respect than was delivered to this citizen taxpayers, with a legitimate request for consideration. In case you did not realize,most bicyclists also drive cars, so they have also been paying all along, with everyone else in this community. Sincerely Neil Giddings Subject: RE: [MR] 2ND AVE BIKE LANE RESPONSE Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:09:11 -0700 From: BApple@SpokaneCity.org To: Neil Giddings Neil Giddings: Perhaps you do not realize just how rude and vicious some of these bicyclists have been over the last year but I have. I had also been an advocate and for the last seven years as an elected official though apparently you nor other proponents apparently can see the great improvement however I am tired of the hard work and only to be victimized by people, who need to put-up or shut-up. And I also remember that I work for a whole community and not a select group of rude people I will chose to ignore through the end of my public service term and beyond. Bob Apple *********************************************************************** As we say in the journalism business, let’s let readers decide what this councilman’s Area of Improvement should be first. Planners worth their salt know streets are a vital part of the livability of communities, and look at how young or old, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or business owner interface with streets. Motorists and bicyclists are also part of the process: it’s all about multi-modal transportation. And choices. When more than 20 percent of teens and 18 to 23 year olds are unemployed, when fuel prices are high, and the cost of maintaining an automobile and other costs are rising, it behooves anyone representing a community known for low-income families struggling to use food banks, with up to 50 percent of public school children using federally-supported free lunches, and with the obesity rate rising and mental strain of driving reality, well, it would behoove Mr. Apple to call for more elegant and far-reaching bike legislation and support. Biking, walking, skating, running, etc. – we need radical changes, not the continuation of the car-centric engineering, building and planning MO that has virtually ruined civil society. Here, we have a great event, SpokeFest. In Seattle, in a low-income community, Columbia City, the non-profit Bike Works embraces a larger social-economic framework for promoting biking. Apple needs primers on biking, on how to communicate and what the world is really like. Maybe a copy of “Elements of Style” or “The People’s History of the World” would help his grammatical structures and background on people’s movements in society. Since I am far from being some greenie mambsy-pansy, I will end with deeper socialist critiques of the car. Cars have fragmented neighborhoods and have not only reduced interactions that would have been gained with public transportation and walking and biking, but car culture is causing violence to rise and general despicable forms of communication to thrive. Cars pollute and suck the health from our populace. Forget Super-sized cup holders and the increase in the drive-in high-calorie-fat-salt-sugar food consumption; but cars discourage people from hanging out in front yards, balconies, porches. What about the costs to the social fabric from collisions? The countless millions of animals smashed by low- and high-speed traffic? Vehicles are not safe at 30 miles an hour, let alone 65 mph. You might get $1 million or more for contracting salmonella from a tainted McMuffin, but how much if you sustain burns or brain damage or skeletal trauma from hitting something on the road? We get away with murder in the car when we take out a bicyclist or pedestrian or even a fellow driver, if the law lands in our favor. Cars increase consumerism, generate unhealthy sprawl mentality, and cost us trillions to extend roads, widen freeways and build by-passes and bridges. By now, Mr. Apple is already raising his eyebrows, if he even reads Down to Earth. Get this — the real cost of a gallon of gasoline is a $15.71 a gallon, not $2.99. (Read the findings here: www.icta.org/doc/Real%20price%20of%20Gasoline.pdf We don’t just add to the cost of dollars per gallon for tune-ups, fuel, oil changes, tires, licensing and insurance. We add the costs to taxpayers to build and maintain roads as well as that gallon for tax subsidies for oil companies. Can you put a price on a dead Marine or blasted-up wedding party in Afghanistan? We can amortize the cost of wars fought to secure oil fields. We know how many auto-related injuries get treated in hospitals, or how many trauma centers exist because of car culture. Some nuanced things like environmental damage caused by refineries, particulates, and pollution from cars and roadways can also be figured into the price of a gallon of gasoline. We can’t, however, factor in CO2 and climate change caused by the entire automobile culture. Now that the Bob Apples of Spokane have probably logged off, let’s talk real socialism: Plenty of studies show how improved social relationships happen through public transportation like trains, trolleys and buses. This “car hegemony” puts non-drivers into a category of second-class citizenship. Our cities are designed to host cars, and are structured to be inaccessible to walkers or bicyclists. People looking to take a bus are put in sometimes downright dangerous and inhospitable situations. Owning a car becomes a priority for people who can’t afford them. We are exploited by the insurance industry and automobile companies. Cars are the vehicle (no pun intended) for perpetuating the rat race of consumer culture. I can only skim the tip of the iceberg of transportation planning here. However, biking authorities and transportation choice advocates have so much more to say about what Mr. Apple implies. He may want to impugn bikes and fellow council members due to recent political losses, but what he actually does is display the retrograde attitude of many like him in Spokane and elsewhere. Climate change is real, and so are the sociological and economic points made above. Don’t blame the messenger, and don’t blame the bicyclist. Those two axioms should be a part of Mr. Apple’s daily vitamin and exercise regimens.