A Tragedy in the Commons – Satire on the state of bicycle planing and funding


I have been struggling with how to get around the states double speak on bike/ped funding and I was inspired to write the following. Let me know your thoughts if this is effective or not.

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In a time not too far past in a place much like this one, in fact exactly like this one. A problem was brought to the attention of the appointed Grand Puba of All Things Much More Important Then This (GPATMMITT) and that problem was there was a higher demand for food subsidies then funds available.

“Ah, that's an easy problem to solve.” said the GPATMMITT “We'll simply have the recipient of subsidies pay more and we'll pay less so the funds go further.” And the court was in awe of the GPATMMITT wisdom and so enacted the policy of the wise GPATMMITT.

But soon there was a murmur among the smallest of smallest group of those that received food subsidies. “Oh Grand Puba of All Things Much More Important Then This while your policy may work well for farmers and such but those who are having trouble feeding their families on limited incomes cannot afford to pay more for their food and more people are starving, both the young and the old because of this new policy. So the GPATMMITT agreed to study the matter.

After looking into the matter the GPATMMITT pronounced “We have done polls and surveys and found that most people prefer steak and caviare but those using these funds spend it on trivial things like milk, bread, eggs and cheese. This is not right, funds from this office is about improving the quality of life by empowering purchase of things that are expensive so from now on only steak and caviare will be funded.” “But your Pubaness this will have a devastating effect on 3 out 5 of our members.” cried the smallest of smallest group. “That does not matter.” said the GPATMMITT “For every 5 we helped before we can help 12 now whether they actually need the help or not.”
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I hope this piece of satire helps make it clear that when talking about huge highway projects the State's policies actually make some sense but when talking about the devastating impact of car centric roads on the vulnerable road user the State's policies are nonsensical. Since I have been involved in bicycle advocacy I have seen our vulnerable user traffic fatality rate rise to being the 6th worst in the nation. In Maryland 1 out 5 traffic fatalities involve a cyclists or pedestrian, that's 154% higher then average. I have seen priority area projects turned down because they were not expensive enough for the State to help fund but too expensive for the locality. I have seen Bicycle Master Plans lay dormant because they were not off-road trails. We have to end the decades of turning SAFTEA-LU funding into funding only steaks and caviare back to its intended purpose... improving conditions for the vulnerable road users through practical and economical means.

by B' Spokes

Like most people I live a hectic life and who has the time for much exercise? Thanks to xtracycle now I do. By using my bike for daily activities I can get things done and get an hour plus work out in 15 minutes extra of my time, not a bad deal and beats taking the extra time going to the gym. In case you are still having trouble being motivated; the National Center of Disease Control says that inactivity is the #2 killer in the United States just behind smoking. ( http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/bb_nutrition/ ) Get out there and start living life! I can carry home a full shopping cart of groceries, car pool two kids or just get lost in the great outdoors camping for a week. Well I got go, another outing this weekend.
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