Originally Posted by Helmet Head
I do continue to question how much a difference the facilities can make relative to their cost in terms of making bikes more practical.
Paint (e.g. for bike lanes, sharrows, etc.) is incredibly cheap compared to the cost of separated facilities. I have criticized the city for some of the bike lanes they have installed due to safety issues, and will continue to do so, but I can also say that improvements to the city's bikeway network have definitely made a difference in increasing ridership. Mode splits for bicycles in many inner east side neighborhoods with good access to downtown and other destinations are approaching 10%. The Hawthorne Bridge is a major route into downtown and bicycles make up fully 14% of the traffic on this bridge. I personally prefer sharrows over bike lanes where applicable, but the city has been slow to adopt this treatment (that's currently in the process of changing) and I applaud the citys efforts to traffic-calm 'bike boulevard' alternative routes to the main arterials. The city's 'Transportation Options' program is top notch as well. You should really investigate the city's programs before you criticize them:
http://www.portlandonline.com/transp...ex.cfm?c=34772