We have been hereabouts too often... Why is it that people
think the small amount they pay in car registration somehow manages
to fund construction and maintenance of our huge road network?

Registration fees from motor vehicles make NO CONTRIBUTION WHATSOEVER
to most roads cyclists use. In most states, these fund only highways
and a very few major urban arterials. For the most part, federal and
state petrol taxes are spent similarly.

Most of our urban road network was originally built by property
developers, and paid for by the people who bought the blocks they
sold. Maintenance is done by local government and paid for out of
the rates property owners (and hence renters) pay. Why cyclists
should be deemed to be not funding this network is incomprehensible.