Ethical consumers and the American Automobile Association versus the Better World Club

(This blog entry inspired by an email from Michael R.)

People own cars and need assistance when the cars break down. Not everyone who drives is a self-important person who believes that only automobiles have the "right" (note that it is really a privilege) to use the roads.

So we get tired of spokespeople for the American Automobile Association such as Lon Anderson ("Profile: Lon Anderson" from the Washington Business Journal) always speaking out in favor of automobility, without real consideration for the impact of automobile dominance on transportation efficiency and quality of life.

And for the AAA's advocacy of massive subsidies for automobile users because of the failure of gasoline taxes to cover the cost of building and maintaining

From "Proposal: Pay by the mile" in the Manassas News-Messenger" :

Drivers could pay up to 15 cents per mile under a proposed plan to add toll lanes to several area highways.

A new $400,000 joint study by the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation, approved last week by the Washington Metropolitan Council of Government's Transportation Planning Board, will examine if drivers would accept GPS transponders in their cars—devices that would be used to charge drives to use the proposed lanes.

The study comes after a report from the Brookings Institution stated road-use pricing—which entails converting existing highway travel lanes into toll lanes, and charging drivers an average of 9 to 15 cents per mile to use them—could generate billions for transit improvements.

If road-use pricing comes to the Washington area, the report estimates the region could see a 94 percent drop in vehicle miles traveled, as many drivers could shift from driving to mass transit.

Fewer drivers on the roads could lead to 75 to 85 percent fewer delays, according to the report.

Mahlon G. "Lon" Anderson, spokesman for AAA-Mid Atlantic, a group that advocates for area drivers, said the plan seeks to penalize motorists.

"Unequivocally, I will go on the record and say charges of this magnitude … don't have a snowball's chance in hell of being enacted," stated Anderson in a press release. "Elected officials would have to have a death wish before they would agree to these charges."

So I suggest dropping your membership in AAA and joining the Better World Club instead. Not only can you get automobile services, you can add on to your Better World Club membership support for bicycling, which includes membership in the League of American Bicyclists and a subscription to Bicycling Magazine (equal to the cost of the add-on) or you can get an exclusive bicyclist membership, which includes two service calls/year providing "roadside assistance" if your bike breaks down.

(Note that according to the Better World website, recently the Oregon/Idaho AAA affiliate has added bicycle assistance programs to their membership program.)