Originally Posted by
gerv
It depends on the city. Mostly, in the US Midwest, you will see bike path along creeks or around lakes, basically land that is not suitable (due to flooding...) for development. I have seen some of the paths planned for my city and wondered... why bother?
Most bikepaths/MUPs aren't designed for transport at all, in fact, when it comes down to it, most of them aren't designed with cyclists in mind either (regardless of what the press release might say). I saw one in this city that actually flooded in the middle of the worst drought on record -- God only knows what happened to it when we got some rain. In fact, in hundreds of thousands of kilometres of riding in three countries, I've only ever see one MUP that I considered suitable for use -- in Hobart, Tasmania. And even then, I'm not sure I'd commute on it -- and God only knows what a path user who wants to ride to any of the suburbs not accessed by the path is meant to do.
The reason for the apparent popularity of these things comes back to the real motives of the people who call themselves cycling "advocates". Having spent a number of years in that game before I got out, I'm convinced that most of them are just in it to serve themselves, and anything left over for anyone else is a bonus. The bikepath is popular not because of it's utility value, but because it offers a place to ride without cars. To most, it doesn't matter whether or not it actually goes anywhere (most of them don't), it doesn't matter whether or not it's actually any safer than the road (most of them aren't), and it doesn't matter whether or not it actually does anything to promote cycling (most of them serve only to promote the message that cycling is "dangerous"). All that matters to these people is having their own little place where they can go and ride away from the cars.
Oh, and they also help people on "advocacy" committees hang onto their positions because they can claim to have "achieved something" if a government spends millions of dollars on paths that go nowhere -- even if the majority of cyclists don't use them. The simple fact is, until they can design paths that can move people efficiently, and can access all parts of the city, they will never be a viable transport option. EOT.
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That is all.