Originally Posted by
CrankyOne
It's interesting that only 6% of all bicycle riders chose to move from the path to the traffic lane inside the city and none chose to do so outside.
It makes sense, really. Most Dutch cyclists aren't going fast enough (18 mph) that they'd be allowed off the path under this experiment. They have a very different bicycling environment than the U.S., most trips are much shorter, and flatter, and average people can comfortably ride those distances on roadsters in street clothes.
Urban sidepaths aren't particularly hazardous for cyclists riding at fast-pedestrian speeds, so the slow-moving majority of Dutch riders aren't the target for this change -- they're trying to make the paths safer for the design user by reducing speed differentials on the path.