In response to the (Oct. 19) letter "Licensing bike-riders," virtually all cities and states that have experimented with mandatory bicycle registration or bicyclist licensing have found that the overhead administration costs far outweigh any benefit, especially since cyclists pose little danger to others.

In most cases, cyclists received no tangible benefits from these schemes, the programs did not increase safety, and compliance with the law was low.

Enforcement efforts to increase compliance caused hardship for low-income transportation cyclists, and programs to impound unregistered bikes resulted in police taking more bikes than local bike thieves.

Most communities now realize that the public benefits of cycling so outweigh the public costs that they seek to encourage cycling and don't want to create programs that would act as a disincentive for beginners and low-income people.

Cycling education programs help protect bicyclists from themselves, but most Americans feel that such programs should be voluntary, at least for adults.

Many avid cyclists are delighted to help pay for better cycling conditions and already donate time and money to this cause.

Although local roads are funded primarily by local taxes and development fees, which cyclists pay, cyclists who own a car can contribute to state funding for cycling by purchasing a Share The Road license plate through the DMV.

Steven Goodridge

Cary

The writer is a certified instructor through the League of American Bicyclists.