Ontario, Canada has recently exempted all bicycles which sell for less than $1,000 from Provincial sales tax.   Toronto, the largest city in the Province of Ontario, has  sophisticated bike transportation management - an official part of the City government.

If Cleveland and NEO were to put the recent quarter percent sales tax hike into improving bicycle transportation here in Cuyahoga County, not only would there be vast support in the County, but there would also be tremendous and immediate economic benefit to the County. 

Toronto takes biking so seriously their Bike Plan website lists the following :

 Important phone numbers

Report damaged roadways& pot holes: 416-338-9999

Report road debris:416-39-CLEAN

  Parking enforcement, report a vehicle in the bike lane:416-808-6600

  Request snow removal in a bike lane: 416-338-SNOW

Toronto Police Hotline:416-808-2222

Every vehicle trip which we can divert to human powered bicycles saves maintenance costs on our highway infrastructure, improves our air quality, improves our health, and improves our attitude. 

While our myopic, ignorant, accounting dumb County Commissioners go for a ConCenter and KennedyMart, I would go for an exemplary system for bike transportation throughout NEO - and I would look just across Lake Erie to Ontario and Toronto for the template.   

Then you'd see the young and the brainy pedal into NEO to stay…