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CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC - please read the talk page discussion before making substantial changes --> Segregated cycle facilities may consist of separate may still be used on these routes. Segregated cycle facilities are distinct from facilities in which cyclists are integrated with other traffic (i.e., not separated from other traffic by class). There are various types of cycle facility and different countries use differing, often legally defined, terms to distinguish them. In essence, segregated cycle facilities fall into two categories; "Off-road" and "On-road". "Off-road" facilities may exist on their own dedicated right-of-way or else run alongside an existing roadway. In the United States , off-road unsurfaced trails are commonly called "bike trails" or "mountain-bike trails", while surfaced trails that are separate from roadways and which meet more rigorous standards for width, grade and accessibility are commonly called "bike paths." In the United Kingdom and some other places, the terms "cycle path" or "cycle track" are sometimes used as a blanket term for any off-road device. "On-road" devices are typically termed "cycle lanes" and consist of portions of a roadway or the shoulder which have been designated for use by cyclists. Caution is required when approaching discussions of the topic. Some of the claims and counter-claims regarding cycle facilities might be best interpreted as competing Ideological Doctrines rather than established Engineering Truth s. The arguments have also been characterised in terms of a Social Custom or even Taboo which reserves the roadway for motorised users.USA: [http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/sciencepolitics1/page7.html The Science and Politics of Bicycle Driving], Steven G. Goodridge, North Carolina Coalition for Bicycle Driving, 2006. The use of such devices has been a source of a great deal of controversy since the 1930s. Some commentators inaccurately use various terms interchangeably. In some cases this is done out of simple ignorance but in other cases this may result from deliberate attempts to confuse matters that involve serious accusations related to Fatality , Injury and legal Culpability . Even the use of the word "facility" is controversial and is disputed. Explanatory note: Terminology See Also: Segregated cycle facilities: Official definitions and legislation For the purpose of accurate discussion this article observes the following conventions.
HISTORY Pre-motorisation . These lanes are painted green where motorists are more likey to conflict with cyclists, such as where motorists must cross the cycle lanes to turn left. The green paint is to draw motorists attention to the fact they are about to cross a cycle lane, and serve as a reminder that motorists must give way to cyclists in all cycle lanes.]] Post motorisation (Pre World War II) With the advent of the motor car, conflict arose between the increasingly powerful car lobby and the existing population of bicycle users. By the 1920s and 1930s the UK and German car lobbies initiated efforts to have cyclists removed from the roads so as to facilitate motorists and improve the convenience of motoring.Death on the Streets, Cars and the Mythology of Road Safety by Robert Davis, Leading Edge Press, North Yorkshire UK, 1992 Germany In Germany, the National Socialist regime was committed to promoting the mass use of private motor cars and viewed the bicycle as an impediment to this goal. For the National Socialist authorities, the exclusion of cycle traffic from main routes was viewed as an important pre-requisite to the attainment of mass-motorisation. Accordingly a mass programme of cycle track/cycle path construction was implemented Cycle tracks for the expansion of motorised traffic Volker Briese, Bicycle Research Report 218, Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad Club/European Cyclists Federation, 28/05/1994. In addition, new laws were imposed to force cyclists to use segregated cycle paths. to which it is reported that German cyclists objected. The National Socialists outlawed cyclists' organisations and seized their assets or alternatively subsumed them into the state controlled ''Deutschen Radfahrer-Verband''. By 1936, the German motoring press was also discussing the use of narrow cycle lanes marked on the carriageway, to facilitate overtaking and to frustrate cyclists in the "unpleasant" practice of cycling side-by-side.Die Radfahrer im Straßenverkehr, Wenz, Deutsches Autorecht 1936, 259 United Kingdom In the UK, similar moves were initiated but ran into trenchant opposition from cycling groups. In particular, the Cyclists' Touring Club distributed pamphlets warning against the threat of cycle paths The Perils of the Cycle Path, Cyclists Touring Club, 1935The Winged Wheel, by William Oakley Cyclists Touring Club, 1977 Local CTC associations organised mass meetings to reject the use of cycle tracks and any suggestion that cyclists should be forced to used such devices Notes from history and the Hull mass cyclist demonstration of 1935 By Howard Peel, The Bike Zone, The Thinking Cyclist, Accessed 23/01/2007. In 1935, a packed general meeting of the CTC adopted a motion rejecting ministerial plans for cycle path construction. The CTC was successful and the use of cycle tracks largely fell out of favour in the UK. Post World War II Post-war German governments chose to continue the transportation objectives of their National Socialist predecessors, hence cyclists were viewed as an impediment to motorised traffic to be excluded and restricted whenever feasible . These policies eventually resulted in Germany largely eliminating cycling as a significant form of transport. In the UK, little use of separate cycleway/cycle track systems took place except in the so-called "new towns" such as Stevenage and Harlow . From the end of the 1960s in Nordic Countries , the Swedish SCAFT guidelines on urban planning were highly influential and argued that non-motorised traffic must be segregated from motorised traffic wherever possible. Under the influence of the SCAFT guidelines cyclists and pedestrians were essentially treated as a homogeneous group to be catered for using similar facilities. The SCAFT guidelines strongly influenced cities such as Helsinki and Västerås to build large cycle path networks. By the late 1960s and 1970s, with the cyclists mainly gone, many German towns even began removing cycle tracks so as to accommodate more car parking. Increasing traffic congestion and the 1970s oil shocks contributed to a resurgence in cycling in some countries. However, outside of SCAFT-inspired developments in Nordic countries, the use of segregated cycle facilities was mainly confined to university towns with established populations of bicycle users. 1980s to present The 1980s saw the start of experimental cycle route projects in Danish towns such as of many organisations associated with the Environmental Movement . Accordingly, the rise of the "Green" movement in the 1990s has also been accompanied by vocal calls for the construction of "cycle networks" in many countries. This has led to various high profile "cycle network" projects examples of which can be found in Bogotá , Montreal , Dublin and other cities. THE SAFETY OF SEGREGATED CYCLE FACILITIES The issue of the safety of segregated cycling facilities has been one of extreme controversy since the 1930s. Since then, the established cycling lobby in the UK and Ireland has taken a critical and measured view of their utility and value Getting rid of the Cyclists: Frank Urry and the 1938 DoT Advisory Committee by Jeremy Parker, Bikereader.com (Accessed 27/01/2007). In 1947, in response to official suggestions that cyclists should use cycle-tracks, the CTC adopted a motion expressing ''determined opposition to cycle paths alongside public roads''. In 2007, official claims of safety for cycle tracks provoked a position paper from the umbrella body for UK cyclists' groups stating ''"Cycle Campaign Network knows of no evidence that cycle facilities and in particular cycle lanes, generally lead to safer conditions for cycling"'' Proposed revised Highway Code Response to the further changes to rules 61 and 63, Cycle Campaign Network, June 2006 On the other hand, the proponents of segregated cycling facilities frequently proclaim them as being necessary to the provision of a "safe" cycling environment. However, in many cases their proponents have no established interest or expertise in cycling promotion and may include representatives of various interests such as the motoring/roads lobbies (including automobile clubs), traffic engineers, the environmental lobby, political parties, the health sector etc. In contrast to such claims, reviews of the international literature suggest a predominant finding associating the use of roadside urban segregated cycle paths with increases, some significant, in the rate and severity of car/bicycle collisions Cycle Path Safety Summary of Research , John Franklin, Accessed 23/01/2007. The argument has two sides involving both direct and indirect safety. Direct safety Urban roads The source of the direct safety problem lies in the nature of the predominant car/bicycle collision types. The majority of collisions on urban roads occur at junctions and involve turning vehicles. TD 42/95, Design Manual for Roads and Bridges , Part 6, Geometric Design of Major Minor Priority Junctions Rear-end type collisions are only a major factor on arterial or interurban roads. Chapter 2 Car-Bike Crashes 1 Those Bothersome Bumps From Behind , Listening to Bike Lanes Jeffrey A Hiles, September 1996. (Accessed 12th June 2006) Motorist Overtaking Failed To Detect - Part I, Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclists by Carol Tan, Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center FHWA-RD-96-104, 1996 Motorist Overtaking Failed To Detect - Part II, Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclists by Carol Tan, Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center FHWA-RD-96-104, 1996 Motorist Overtaking - Counteractive Evasive Actions - Part I Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclists by Carol Tan, Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center FHWA-RD-96-104, 1996 Motorist Overtaking - Counteractive Evasive Actions - Part II Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclists by Carol Tan, Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center FHWA-RD-96-104, 1996 Motorist Overtaking—Misjudged Passing Space - Part I Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclists by Carol Tan, Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center FHWA-RD-96-104, 1996 Motorist Overtaking—Misjudged Passing Space - Part II Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclists by Carol Tan, Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center FHWA-RD-96-104, 1996 Thus accident analysis suggests that on rural/arterial routes with few junctions, providing segregated space for cyclists might lower the net number of collisions Chapter 3 Car-Bike Crashes 2 A Broader View , Listening to Bike Lanes Jeffrey A Hiles, September 1996. (Accessed 12th June 2006). For urban roads, with many junctions, accident analysis suggests the opposite, that segregated cycling facilities are likely to produce a net increase collisions. These conclusions are supported by the experience of countries that have implemented segregated cycling facilities. In the was openly used to describe the use of roadside cycle paths.[http://www.bikexprt.com/bikepol/facil/sidepath/adfc173.htm Vélo Secur 90 -- Issues of bicycling Safety. Report from the German Cycling Federation In have, on a per journey basis, a significantly higher rate of fatal car-bicycle collisions than cyclists who simply cycle on the ordinary unsegregated roads. Cycle lanes / bike lanes are less dangerous than cycle paths in urban situations but even well-implemented examples have still been associated with 10% increases in casualty rates. However particular concern attaches to the use of cycle lanes in specific urban situations, especially large roundabouts. For adult cyclists, the standard safe cycling advice for handling roundabouts is to try to maintain a prominent position while circulating Cyclecraft: Skilled Cycling Techniques for Adults , John Franklin, The Stationery Office Books, UK, 2004 ISBN : 0117020516 . The use of cycle lanes runs counter to this advice and places cyclists outside the main "zone of observation" of entering motorists; who represent the overwhelming source of risk (50% of collisions) Pedal Cyclists at Roundabouts, Layfield R.E. and Maycock G., Traffic Engineering and Control, June 1986. In 2002, cycle lanes were removed from a roundabout in the British town of Weymouth after 20 months because the casualty rate had increased significantly Cycle lane withdrawn after casualty rise, Cycle Campaign Network News, page 5, Issue No 45 March 2002 . German research has also indicated that cyclists are safer negotiating roundabouts within the main traffic mix rather than on separate cycle lanes or cycle paths Sicherung von Radfahrern an städtischen Knotenpunkten. Schnüll, R., Lange, J., Fabian, I., Kölle, M., Schütte, F., Alrutz, D., Fechtel, H.W., Stellmacher-Hein, J., Brückner, T. & Meyhöfer, H., Bericht zum Forschungsprojekt 8925 der Bundesanstalt für Strassenwesen BASt Nr. 262. Bundesanstalt für Strassenwesen BASt, Bergisch Gladbach, 1992. A recent paper on German roundabout design practice states baldly ''"Cycle lanes at the peripheral margin of the circle are not allowed since they are very dangerous to cyclists"''.Roundabouts : A State of the Art in Germany, Werner Brilon, paper presented at the National Roundabout Conference, Vail, Colorado, USA, May 22 – 25, 2005 ''See also'' Cycle Facilities At Roundabouts . Rural / Arterial roads Direct rear impacts with cyclists are a more prominent collision type in arterial/rural road type situations. When they occur in such circumstances they are also associated with significantly increased risk of fatality. Data collated by the OECD indicates that rural locations account for 35% or more of cycling fatalities in Denmark , Finland , France , Great Britain , Japan , the Netherlands and Spain . Figure IV.7 Pedestrian and cyclist accidents by road type. RS7:Safety of Vulnerable Road Users, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, August 1998 UK police-recorded cycling collision data indicates that at non-junction locations, where a cyclist was struck directly from behind, there was an overall fatality rate of 17%. The risk of fatality increases with speed limit of the road. Where such collisions occurred on 30 mph roads a 5% fatality rate was recorded, climbing to 13% at 40 mph, 21% at 60 mph and a fatality rate of 31% on 70 mph roads. Stone, M. & Broughton, M. (2003). Getting off your bike: Cycling accidents in Great Britain 1990-1999. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 35, 549–556. The use of appropriately designed segregated space on arterial or interurban routes does appear to be associated with reductions in overall risk. In Ireland , the provision of Hard Shoulders on interurban routes in the 1970s reportedly resulted in a 50% decrease in accidentsThe bicycle, a study of efficiency usage and safety., D.F. Moore, An Foras Forbatha, Dublin 1975 . It is reported that the Danes have also found that separate cycle tracks lead to a reduction in rural collisions. Indirect safety The "safety in numbers" argument has also be used to explain the apparent success of cycle facilities in some cities. In most cases, the most prominent examples of "successful" cycle networks were implemented in towns that already had significant numbers of cyclists. It is argued that in such cases this existing large cycling population already exerts a strong "safety in numbers" effect, and it is this, rather than their diversion onto off-road tracks that accounts for the higher safety seen. Assessing the actual risks faced by cyclists , M. Wardlaw, Traffic Engineering & Control, December 2002. 352-356 Remedial measures Various remedial measures have been developed in an attempt to solve the identified safety problems of segregated cycle facilities. In some environments these represent established engineering practice while in others they may have to be retroactively applied in response to complaints and safety concerns. Examples include the addition of a separate system of Traffic Signal s for bicycle traffic. This can get extremely complex, particularly if there are already separate traffic signal phases for Pedestrian s, motorised traffic and Public Transport modes such as Tram s and/or Bus es. The need for a separate system of traffic lights also means that building a functioning, completely segregated, cycle path system is a non-trivial exercise in terms of both expense and engineering effort. Some treatments involve raising the cycle track onto a speed ramp type structure where it crosses side roads. In addition, various road markings have been developed in an attempt to remedy the issue of increased junction collisions. Examples of these include the use of special road markings e.g. "sharks teeth" or "elephants footprints" and special coloured treatments using red, green or blue coloured tarmac. ROAD TRAFFIC LEGISLATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS One of the potential pitfalls for observers trying to interpret the operation of segregated cycle facilities is that legal assumptions which apply in one environment do not apply elsewhere. For instance, in contrast to most English speaking countries, some Northern European countries, including Germany, France, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands have defined liability legislation. Road Safety Needs a New Vision , Road Safety Bill: A Safer Streets Coalition briefing for the House of Commons Standing Committee, Safer Streets Coalition (UK) 2006. Thus there is a legal assumption that motorists are automatically considered liable in law for any injuries that occur if they collide with a cyclist. Safety in Road Traffic for Vulnerable Users , European Conference of Ministers of Transport, OECD 2006 This may hold regardless of any fault on the part of the cyclist and may significantly affect the behaviour of motorists when they encounter cyclists. ETRA apologises for "incorrect" motorist liability press release , Bike biz Breaking News, Mar 4th 2005 Driver liability in Newsletter no 57 , Dorset Cyclists’ Network, May 2007 In some countries, it may already be legal for cyclists to overtake motor-vehicles on the inside, and cyclists doing so may enjoy the protection of the law. In this case, the use of segregated cycle facilities conforms to existing traffic law. In other jurisdictions, similar "undertaking" manoeuvres by cyclists may be illegal. S.I. No. 182/1997: Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations , 1997, Irish Statute Book Such distinctions form the basis of the argument that segregated cycle facilities encourage behaviours that flout existing traffic law and in which cyclists enjoy no legal protection. The Effect of Bikelane Sysem Design Upon Cyclists' Traffic Errors, John Forester, August 1978; Revised April 1982http://galwaycycling.org/archive/paths/paths02.html "Rules of the Road" a la Galway Corporation Galway Cycling Campaign 2002 Cambridge bike lanes: political statement or road improvement? John S. Allen (Accessed 8th June 2007) This variation also applies to the operation of traffic signals, or most importantly cyclist-specific traffic lights. For instance in Germany, but also elsewhere, at junctions with segregated facilities, all the traffic in a given direction; motorists, pedestrians and cyclists, may get a green signal at the same time. German Traffic Signs & Signals Brian's Guide to Getting Around Germany (Accessed 7th June 2007) Turning motor traffic is obliged to wait for cyclists and pedestrians to clear the junction before proceeding. In this situation all the transport modes get equal green time. In contrast, UK and Irish practice restricts pedestrians to a dedicated signal phase, separate from and usually much shorter than, the green phase for motorists (e.g. 6-12 seconds vs. signal cycle times of anything up to 120 seconds). [http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/vol8/section1/ta1581.pdf Pedestrian Facilities at Traffic Signal Installations:] Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Volume 8 Section 1 Part 1 - TA 15/81, UK DfT, 1981 General Principles of Control by Traffic Signals Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Volume 8 Section 1 - TA16/81, UK DfT, 1981 If cyclists were to be segregated and treated in a similar manner this would infer a significant reduction in green time for the cycle-traffic at every junction. In the English city of ian bikepath scheme in 1999. Cyclists faced twice the number of traffic signals as motorised traffic and were expected to wait over one minute to get seven seconds of green time The scandal of Maréchaux , Opinion of bicyclists' organizations concerning the special corridor for the PC1 bus, Mouvement pour la défense de la bicyclette et al, October 1999 (Accessed 08/03/2007). THE DESIGN VEHICLE AND DESIGN USERS Other potential pitfalls in interpreting the operation of segregated cycle facilities are the issues of design vehicles and design users. The Netherlands is a flat country and Dutch town planning keeps cycling distances short. The typical Dutch town bike or "granny bike" has either no gears or a three speed hub gear and uses back pedal brakes. In other countries with different geographies and cycling cultures, bicycles may tend to have 7 to 15 gears (not counting duplicates), and a reasonably fit adult commuter can expect to reach speeds of 30 km/h (20 mph). Sports cyclists can travel even faster. With tailwinds or downhill gradients, some cyclists may exceed 50 km/h (30 mph). While a Dutch sidepath system may work for Dutch cyclists, serious questions have been raised since at least the 1970s that other cyclists using faster bicycle types cannot use such a system safely at what, for them, are normal cycling speeds. The Bikeway Controversy , J Forester, Transportation Quarterly, Vol 55 No 2. Spring 2001 The Danish Roads Directorate acknowledges that the advent of faster bicycle types has not benefited safety since their cycle track system ''"functions best when cyclists travel at relatively low speeds"'' Collection of Cycle Concepts , Danish Roads Directorate, Copenhagen, 2000 In some cases designers may focus on a particular design user. The UK’s Sustrans guidelines for the National Cycle Network are based on recreational use and assume a design user who is an unaccompanied twelve-year-old. The Dublin Transportation Office has advertised their cycle facilities as being based on a design user who is an unaccompanied ten-year-old. This then raises the issue of what happens if different cyclist types find themselves forced onto such devices either by legal coercion or as a result of motorist aggression. This issue is captured in a 1996 review of the Sustrans approach from the Proceedings of the Institute Of Civil Engineers . "''The fast cycle commuter must not be driven off the highway onto a route that is designed for a 12-year-old or a novice on a leisure trip, because if that happens, the whole attempt to enlarge the use of the bicycle will have failed'' " Book reviews, The National Cycle Network-guidelines and practical details, M.N. Fargher, Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Transport, 117, p. 239, August 1996 A feature of a "real" cyclist (i.e. experienced adult on a MTB/tourer) that is ignored by planners is of physics. Centripetal acceleration and stopping distances go with the square of the speed. Curves and other features that are adequate for a 12 year old/novice moving at 5mph are inadequate/dangerous for an adult moving at 20-30mph. THE MAINTENANCE ISSUE Moving motor vehicles generate a "sweeping" effect that pushes debris such as grit and broken glass to the edge of the roadway. By excluding motor traffic, cycle lanes and cycle tracks become parts of the road that are no longer routinely "swept" thus collecting more broken glass and gravel. In addition, some off-road designs are simply not accessible to standard road sweeping equipment. One UK study estimated that cycle path users are seven times more likely to get punctures than are road cyclists. Two decades of the Redway cycle paths of Milton Keynes, J. Franklin. Traffic Engineering and Control, Aug. 1999. Both sides of the argument acknowledge that many cyclists will simply refuse to use poorly maintained facilities. Cycle facilities skeptics go further and argue that there is no point funding new cycle facilities unless there is a simultaneous commitment of increased funds to maintenance and sweeping afterwards. Similar problems arise in areas subject to high leaffall in autumn, or high snowfall in winter, any cycle facilities must be subject to regular clearing or else rapidly become unusable. For example, the city of Copenhagen spends of the order of DKK 9.9 million (US$1.72 million, EUR1.33 million) annually on maintaining its cycle track network Cycle track maintenance, Copenhagen City Commune, Accessed January 2007. . German federal law requires local authorities to declassify cycle tracks that do not conform to strict design and maintenance criteria New rights for cyclists, Allgemeine Deutsche Fahrrad Club (ADFC), November, 1997 . In Harlow New Town UK, which was built in the late 1950s, there is a dual infrastructure. The cycle paths are/were swept every two days; this keeps them free of leaves and glass. SEGREGATED CYCLE FACILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION CYCLING in Newbury , Berkshire , England .]] There is well-established historical precedent for the use of cycle facilities as a means of promoting motoring at the expense of cyclists’ access. Despite this, it has become customary for certain commentators, particularly those associated with the environmental and/or motoring lobbies, to proclaim segregated cycle facilities as the "measure of choice" for restoring cyclist access to western cities. Perhaps understandably, this is highly controversial and is a source of, occasionally quite bitter, dispute. See also Cycle Path Debate . In contrast, in 1996 the Cyclists' Touring Club and Institute of Highways and Transportation jointly produced a set of guidelines ''Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure'' which placed segregated cycling facilities at the bottom of any hierarchy of measures designed to promote cycling.Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure: Guidelines for Planning and Design: Institution of Highways and Transportation, Cyclists Touring Club, 1996. Planners at the Directorate Infrastructure Traffic and Transport {Link without Title} in Amsterdam place cyclists and motorists together on roads with speed limits at or below 30 km/h, but segregate them by means of bicycle lanes when motorists are permitted to travel faster. However, this is in a context where most of the measures prioritised by ''Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure''; HGV restrictions, area-wide traffic calming, speed limit enforcement etc, are already in place. See the Utility Cycling article for more detail. Evidence Between the late '80s and early '90s the Netherlands spent 1.5 billion guilders (the equivalent of US$945 million) on cycling infrastructure, yet cycling levels practically stayed the same.The autumn of the Bicycle Master Plan: after the plans, the products, Ton Welleman, Dutch Ministry of Transport, Velo-city conference Basle, 1995 In the UK, a ten year study of the effect of cycle facilities in eight UK towns and cities found no evidence that they had resulted in any diversion from other transport modes to cycling UK: Cycle Routes, Traffic Advisory Leaflet 5/95, UK Department for Transport, 1995 A similar finding had been reported for Denmark in 1989, where it was found that there was no correlation between cycle facilities and increased cycling unless active traffic restraint measures were also present. In Denmark as a whole, the establishment of a huge cycling infrastructure has been accompanied by cycling levels that have stayed roughly stable (with minor fluctuations) since 1975. The construction of 320 km of "Strategic cycle network" in Dublin been accompanied by a 15% fall in Commuter Cycling and 40% falls in cycling by second and third level students. In contrast, in the late 1970s and early 1980s cycling underwent robust growth in Germany, the UK and Ireland while there was little or no investment in cycling infrastructure. Cycle facilities vs. facilitating cyclists around Louisville, Kentucky , USA ]] A key criticism made by the opponents of such schemes is that the focus is often on constructing "cycle facilities" rather than "facilitating cyclists". It is readily apparent that there are many cities that have extensive cycle networks and also high levels of cycling. However, the most prominent examples tend to be compact, often mediaeval, university cities. This common theme has been taken to suggest that other underlying factors are driving the levels of cycle use. The issue with "cycle facilities" is that they are designed around the needs of a novice cyclist; the lowest common denominator. The features penalise the higher quality cyclists. The better the cyclist the more the inconvenience/danger caused. Some commentators even argue that the "cause and effect" being seen is actually the reverse of that which is often claimed: That it is the presence of large numbers of cyclists that tends to precipitate the construction of segregated cycle facilities. Possibly the best that can be said, is that in various cities, the safety of cycling, and the number of cyclists present, will result from a complex interaction of spatial planning, population density, legislative environment, and wider traffic/transportation management policies. The evidence suggests that within this mix, segregated cycle facilities can play either a positive or negative role, but this role will be secondary to other factors. The Utility Cycling article provides a more detailed treatment of these issues. The large student populations of these towns increase the green vote, so Greenwash is more likely to occur. Because cyclists and their bikes are not examined for roadworthyness the political solution is to be seen to be doing something, even if it is counterproductive. CYCLE FACILITIES IN PROMOTING RECREATIONAL CYCLING on converted Railway corridor between Daun and Wittlich (Eifel: Germany)]] The use of separate cycleways or bike trails as a means of promoting recreational cycling is much less controversial. In Northern European countries, extensive interurban cycleway networks can be found: Denmark has had a national system of cycle routes since 1993. These may use roads dedicated to exclusively cycle traffic or minor rural roads whose use is otherwise restricted to local motor traffic and agricultural machinery. In Northern Europe, cycling tourism represents a significant proportion of overall tourist activity. The UK and US have recently implemented similar programs such as the UK's National Cycle Network . In the US, the Rails-to-Trails program seeks to convert abandoned railroad beds to recreational trails. In 2003 the longest continuous cycleway in Europe was opened, along the Albacete - Valdeganga highway in Spain , a total distance of 22 km http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:1SgLl9zPBIsJ:www.lacerca.com/local%25202003/pagina(11-04-03)-6.htm+%22mas+largo+de+europa%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=uk. Bogota's Bike Paths Network or "Ciclo-Ruta" in Spanish, designed and built during the administration of Mayor Enrique Peñalosa attracts significant recreational use. SEE ALSO
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING References Additional reading
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