toraerach
Active Member
I've always supported bicycle licensing for anyone older than 16, $10-15 is reasonable. You write an exam just like a driver, you either pass or fail and carry the license when your cycling. That also helps educate cyclists and would only help improve cyclists obeying the rules of the road which could only be an improvement on what's going on out there now. Further, every bicycle including Bixi rentals should be plated. I am a cyclist and I see the craziness out there as any cyclist will attest to. Further, repeal the vehicle registration tax and toll all highways.
Regardless of the merits of bike liscensing (and I'm not convinced it would do all that good), there are several problems with the idea that would make it if not impossible then very difficult to implement. First, I doubt the city even has the power to unilaterally do this without the province/MTO on board. Second, consider the fact that the new province-issued photo ID cards cost something like $30 in order to break even, and that's without a written test or any new space or staff requirements as it's all being done through already existing Service Ontario kiosks. There's no way you could set up an entire liscensing program and charge a fee on only $10-15 without losing significant amounts of money. Finally, though drivers' liscences are almost universal across the planet, implementing a cyclist liscence would be something completely new and (as far as I know) unique to Toronto. I don't know how you could successfully do this without making it nearly impossible for tourists and other out-of-towners to cycle here.
If the main concern is that cyclists are breaking existing traffic laws, then the answer would seem to be better enforcement of those laws. Afterall, even if you were to liscense them, nothing would change unless people breaking the law actually had to face the consequences of doing so. Perhaps punishment for breaking these laws, at least in cases of repeat/reckless offenders, should be cycling safety classes with a test at the end of the program (paid for by the offending cyclist).