Bicycle Victoria position: Registration of bicycles

One of the great things about bikes is that anyone can use them: seven-year-olds and septuagenarians; athletes and Norms; and virtually anyone else. They are used for fun, transport and work, and are celebrated for the freedom and mobility they provide. They are simple and safe vehicles - what reason might there be for registering bikes?

Should bikes pay their way?

Some people say cyclists should pay to use roads like motorists do. Car registration, however, goes towards administration and third-party insurance, not for the construction and maintenance of roads.

Cyclists aren't deemed to require third-party insurance, so why should they pay for a registration administration system? Funds for roads and bike facilities will still come from rates and taxes.

Roads and shared paths are public resources available to anyone who wants to use them. We all contribute to their creation and maintenance and, in fact, cyclists create less wear and tear.

Besides, most cyclists are motorists as well anyway, so they pay their share of motor vehicle registration, licence fees and fuel tax. However, by replacing car trips with bike trips but paying the same, part-time cyclists actually subsidise full-time motorists.

Will registration help to keep track of bikes?

Another reason people call for bikes to be registered is to make them accountable for their behaviour. While some cyclists do break the law, other ways to address this issue are likely to be more cost-effective than registration, since a reasonable registration fee could not cover the cost of administering a system to test, licence and monitor bike riders.

Faked registration is a problem for VicRoads with cars - it would be at least as difficult with bikes, probably more so because people wouldn't take registration seriously for a $50 second-hand, around-town bike. And what would be done about people who have more than one bike?

Displaying registration plates on bikes would also be difficult, with such a variety of different shaped bikes in use. Think of the failure to find a system of putting front licence plates on motorbikes so they can be charged for using CityLink infrastructure.

An appreciable benefit of bike registration would be that it would make recovering stolen bikes easier and the reselling of stolen ones more difficult.

The final analysis

By introducing a financial and administrative burden, registration would discourage people from cycling. Families would particularly suffer: riding a bike might become an unaffordable luxury for many kids.

Finally, motor vehicle registration fees don't cover the costs of road safety measures, nor the health costs of road trauma, car pollution and our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. Perhaps cyclists should actually receive a tax rebate for every day we ride because we are less of a burden on the health system and the public purse? Read more about the health benefits of cycling.