The Effort to Push People Out of Cars Continues

Automobile users continue to pay high taxes at the gas pump.   Said tax money is then all too often diverted to mass transit, light-rail, and "alternative" transportation such as bicycle paths.   Here is the latest example.   Instead of refurbishing the old bridge, the State Highway Department is floating the idea of building a whole new bridge, while the old bridge (right beside it) is converted into a bridge for bicycles.   I don't have anything against bicycles, but special transportation infrastructure for bicycles needs to be paid for by people who ride bicycles, not automobile users. 

The State Highway Department and Move Arkansas Forward assured people that money from the highway bond issue that passed last year would only be used to "maintain what we already have" when we asked them about spending gas tax money on bicycle lanes.    This money is not from that bond issue, but it makes us wary of what is going to happen when that money does come.    It is a data point which trends toward a policy of making it harder for Arkansans to own and operate personal vehicles and pushes members of the public toward less personally-empowering forms of transport.