Infrastructure quality is a major issue. I don’t mind infrastructure at all as long as it is done well. Most of the infrastructure I have seen is not done well.
The infrastructure we have here in the US tends to be terrible, though perhaps for different reasons than in the UK. As an example, consider the recent cycletrack in where I live, Austin, TX. This cycletrack is a disaster as far as I’m concerned. Local bike advocates say that it’s Dutch style infrastructure, but it really isn’t. In the Netherlands, the intersections are separated with a bikes-only part of the light cycle. The current setup has no such separation, and encourages conflicts with motorists as far as I can tell. This is particularly bad where the cycletrack ends, as the road markings make cars and bikes cross, and drivers basically never yield or even look as they are required to. I just ride in the normal lane unless I’m stopping off somewhere on the cycletrack.
Infrastructure quality is a major issue. I don’t mind infrastructure at all as long as it is done well. Most of the infrastructure I have seen is not done well.
The infrastructure we have here in the US tends to be terrible, though perhaps for different reasons than in the UK. As an example, consider the recent cycletrack in where I live, Austin, TX. This cycletrack is a disaster as far as I’m concerned. Local bike advocates say that it’s Dutch style infrastructure, but it really isn’t. In the Netherlands, the intersections are separated with a bikes-only part of the light cycle. The current setup has no such separation, and encourages conflicts with motorists as far as I can tell. This is particularly bad where the cycletrack ends, as the road markings make cars and bikes cross, and drivers basically never yield or even look as they are required to. I just ride in the normal lane unless I’m stopping off somewhere on the cycletrack.