I'm recycling here some post, since both bikes and canoes, represent
the same thing: David vs. Goliath...

It is a matter of historical record that bicycling groups were the first
to push the Good Roads Movement.

It's ALSO a matter of historical record that they basically failed.

No they didn't. What happened was, since bicycles and automobiles
were more-or-less contemporary with each other, drivers usurped the
developing Good Roads Movement to their advantage. So the Good
Roads Movement was originally initiated and kick-started by
bicyclists. But the car drivers later stole it.

Of course, a reason bicyclists "failed" is that motorists were able to
pay for roads due to the taxation of gas. Thank you motorists, even if
you tried to usurp bicyclists' initial efforts as your own.

Wayne

Thank you, American people, for subsidizing gas so the SUVs can
prosper and multiply...

"gas has been so crucial to our economy in the governments eyes that
they have subsidized a large portion of oil production, through
programs, tax-exemptions, and the hiding of pollution costs through
pollution permits. They have through intervention put off an
inevitable end-we will run out of gas sometime, if we continue forcing
prices down on a scarce product. In fact, government has actually
contributed to the overconsumption of oil. When government subsidizes
something (meaning they pay for a portion of it so that the consumers
don't have to) they effectively raise the demand for a product far
beyond where it naturally should be. They make it cheaper for the
companies to produce it and thus cheaper for consumers. This process
distorts market balance, because it hides costs, and creates what is
known as a moral hazard. If companies had to pay all the costs out of
their own pockets, they would produce less, and with a smaller output,
the cost would rise, and consumers would demand less and slowly ween
themselves off of this product and substitute another for it. They
would find communal travel, or alternate means of energy, things that
are both economically efficient and in the long run even better for
the environment. But because the government has absorbed the costs of
production, they have encouraged overconsumption of this good to the
extent that any miscalculation in their plan will result in the prices
skyrocketing towards the price equilibrium where oil naturally should
be, which is near 5 dollars per gallon or more. It is this type of
economic incentive that spurs innovation and gaurds scarce resources
from overconsumption.

The best solution I can think of now is to let the prices of gas..."

http://www.collegeliberty.com/?p=14