Not that I'm against those taxes. I would wish we'd tax fuel more (and in the future, the source of energy for transportation when cars start using more alternate energy sources) as a way to incentivize people toward more shared resources. But I'm not for trying to paint equivalence on the tax front. At the same time, I think this needs to be phased in. I think about the people in rural areas who need cars to get to civilization --keeping in mind the story of an acquaintance who said would sell pints of blood to buy fuel to get to and from work when money was low --ie getting to work before the next paycheck provided more money.)

40% of spending on roads comes from funds completely unrelated to gas or vehicle taxes. This amounts to about $180 per person per year in funds unrelated to taxing automobiles or gas. [1]

To contrast this, per capita spending on cycling infrastructure, while significantly improved in recent years, peaked at $3.95 per person per year. [2]

Quite simply, looking at the actual numbers, it is hard to support the argument that cyclists are being subsidized by drivers.

[1] http://www.transalt.org/files/newsroom/magazine/032Spring/02...

[2] http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/the-bicycle-div...