Originally Posted by
Ekdog
The problem I see with lanes that are separated with painted lines is that people tend to use them as parking lots. To avoid having to walk even a block or two, they'll leave the car in the bike lane while they "pop in" to the bank, a shop or whatever. Physical barriers make it more difficult to do this.
this is only true in nations where people are unfamiliar with bike lanes. in areas where bike lane density is high motorists quickly become accustomed to them and compliance is high. germany and belgium are great examples of this. and in portland hardly anyone parks in a conventional bike lane. ironically, it is the protected lanes that have the problem with nimwits parking and driving in them.