Even in

, it’s a constant criticism among motorists nettled by the growing number of little blinking lights in traffic: Why don’t bicyclists pay for the roads they use?

In fact, the

would argue that the drumbeat is especially loud and cynical in Portland, with many drivers interpreting the increasingly used term “road diet” as a radical effort to take away their auto lanes.

For that reason, Oregon's largest bicycle advocacy group has finally decided to go after what it sees as one of the biggest myths on the road.

On Tuesday morning, the BTA launched what many many of its 3,500 members would argue is a long overdue

” campaign.

At the heart of the effort is

, requiring them to pay gas taxes as well as licensing and registration fees.

What’s more, the BTA, citing various transportation policy studies, including a 2010 University of California at Berkley study on “Repricing Highway Pavement Deterioration,” pointing out that it takes 9,600 bicycles to cause the damage of one car on a paved street.

“If bicycle riders paid a fee proportional to the damage they cause on roads,” the BTA says, “it would amount to a few cents a year.”

In the past, even as state lawmakers have pushed for bicycle licenses and user fees, the BTA has primarily tried to fight bikes-don’t-pay rhetoric behind the scenes or with a quick blog post.

No more.

The infographic is apparently just the first step. The BTA plans other myth-busting efforts in the near future.

“This is something that has been on the radar for a while,” said Will Vanlue, a BTA spokesman. “Transportation funding isn’t a particularly easy topic to understand. So, we wanted to provide some hard evidence to show that people riding bikes are paying for the roads.”

Key points of BTA's "Who Pays For Our Roads?" campaign

"89% of Oregon residents with bikes also own cars and pay license and registration fess and gas taxes."*

"People who regularly ride bicycles actually pay more than their share of road construction and repair costs."

"Bicycles cause almost no road damage."

"People who ride about about as much as those who always drive, yet they damage the roads much less."*

"When people ride bikes, they save everyone money."

* 2009 Inavero Institute study, "Bicycling Perceptions and Experiences in Oregon and Southwest Washington."

At the same time, the BTA presentation ignores the larger realities of Oregon's transportation symbiosis.

For example, a big chunk of the wear-and-tear on roads is done by large trucks delivering goods purchased by everyone, including bicyclists. Yet there's no acknowledgement that the cost of that damage is carried by all consumers, not just motorists.

Vanlue said the group has become increasingly concerned that road users and taxpayers are buying into the free-ride fable.

As an example, Vanlue brought up recent discussions about the BTA’s

by eliminating an auto lane to install a protected bike lane. Often, he said, the refrain gets in the way of having serious discussions about projects to improve safety at the same pace as the city’s bicycling boom.

Here’s one measure of the upturn: On the four city bridges with bicycle facilities, people riding bikes has grown 322 percent since 1991, while automobile trips have barely increased, according to Portland Bureau of Transportation traffic counts.

In addition to academic studies, the new BTA campaign draws from hard facts culled from state and federal transportation statistics.

For instance, the BTA cites the latest Oregon Department of Transportation budget to show that user fees alone don’t cover road costs.

“The rest comes from the general funds that everyone contributes to, regardless of car or bike use,” the group claims with the support of a graphic showing 37 percent of ODOT revenue sources come from bonds, income taxes, lottery revenue and other sources.

The BTA also references a Federal Highway Administration report to argue that automobile use is also heavily subsidized. “At the national level, user fees from motor vehicles account for less than half of road spending,” the infographic proclaims.

Despite the multiple footnotes, it’s hard to know how many hearts and minds will be changed by the new campaign.

In fact, the infographic's most powerful point -- that 89 percent of bicylists also own cars -- is open to skepticism,

. The alliance doesn't cite an independent source for the information.

Bob Huckaby -- who said he recently relocated his furniture-shipping business First Inc. because of

– sees the BTA’s latest effort as pure propaganda to promote a double standard on the city’s roads.

Huckaby acknowledged that bicyclists likely pay their way while freeing up parking spaces and easing congestion by not driving. Still, he says, the BTA doesn’t “want to admit to the fact that the city treats one group of road users as special."

As a motorist, "I pay my share, too," Huckaby said. "But motorists also have to pay for insurance and be licensed to be on the road. Bikes don’t. So, really, we’re paying double.”

In August 2012, upset that the city closed a Portland intersection to right-turning traffic off just east of the Broadway Bridge and near Huckaby’s business,

But Huckaby said he abandoned the ballot drive after being told how much time and money it would take to gather signatures, without any guarantees that it will go before voters. In response to intersection closure, which he said hurt business, Huckaby sold his old building and moved First Inc. to Northwest Portland.

The BTA opposed

to help pay for research and education that would, in part, fight perceptions that cyclists get a free ride.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7555387/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Do bicyclists in traffic make your commute easier or worse?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

“When the issue has been studied in the past, bike taxes, licenses, and registration, have been found to be cumbersome and cost more money to administer than they bring in,” Vanlue said.

In the end, however, the BTA risks preaching to the pedaling choir, said University of Hawaii traffic psychologist

.

“Too many minds are already made up on this,” James said. “There are two different cultures on the road competing against each other. They have different needs and demands and expectations.”

Of course, that’s not say that the BTA is engaging in a lost cause, especially since younger Americans are shifting commuting habits to bicycles and transit, James said.

His advice to the alliance as it moves forward with its latest education effort: Make it more about benefiting motorists than promoting the altruism of those who choose to bike to work.

Rather than hearing that bicyclists are saving the world, motorists are more apt to respond positively to information showing how a new cycletrack or bike lane help them on their commute, James said.

"They're right: Almost all bicyclists have to be drivers at some point,” he said. “Join the two demands. Show they're more alike than they might realize. Promote cooperation. To do that, drivers have to see the real advantages that bicyclists bring to the transportation system.”

-- Joseph Rose