[stefs]

i'm speaking from a european city (400k inhabitants) perspective, where everything is rather crowded compared to the american suburb commute.

> A majority of the population cannot use bicycles for long trips

well, bicycling _in the city_ is usually meant for short trips, but 95% of my trips are short trips of less than 10km.

> Only healthy citizens with an excess of time and energy are able to use them for trips

excess of time: on my commute i'm on average a lot faster by bike - no gridlock, no search for a parking spot

energy: carbs are cheap

healthy: cycling improves your health and fitness follows an S-curve. even if the ride is arduous in the beginning, it quickly gets easier

> The elderly, children

personal experience (biased): compared to driving, a disproportional amount of cyclists are elderly or children

> those with heart conditions, asthma, or many other health conditions

i don't know about that. a bike courier i know uses an asthma inhaler, but i haven't asked him about it.

> and anyone needing to transport anything heavier than their own body

you're right that there's a limit, but i can impose those same arbitrary limits on cars: "what if i need to transport X which doesn't fit in a car?"

> Creating exclusionary space for bicycles is the opposite of progressive policy and efficient urban design.

it's a safe space for cyclists who are not able or willing to ride on the road shared with drivers. i usually don't mind riding on the road, but as soon as i got my toddler in the trailer i tend to get rather touchy about safe cycling infrastructure.

i'm not sure what you're arguing for though. are you arguing for motorized individual transport, because the disabled, elderly, toddlers prefer cars? or public transport?

[sempron64]

Public transit. A bus lane will carry many more people more efficiently. Cargo and emergency vehicles can also use this lane if necessary. Dedicated bike infrastructure such as protected bike lanes can generally only be used by bikes and other small vehicles.

[stefs]

bicycling and public transit complement each other (almost) perfectly. i don't see why you're advocating for "dedicated public transport lanes instead of bike lanes" as opposed to "dedicated public transport lanes and bike lanes".

> A bus lane will carry many more people more efficiently.

i think it's close. yes, you can cram more people on a smaller space in a bus, but the bus - and upping the lines frequency if necessary - is comparably expensive.

the big difference is, of course, personalized transport.

[coyotespike]

Yes, this. You bicycle to public transit, then either safely park your bicycle or load it onto public transit.

OP is attempting to find an opposition where none exists. Most people are not so wrongheaded, and where you find an advocate for safe cycling, you'll also find an advocate for public transit.

[analog31]

I'd be very happy to see dedicated bus lanes in my locale, along with bike routes. In my vivid imagination, the buses would be synchronized with the traffic lights, allowing them to move through town quite efficiently, even with stops.

Ours is a mid sized town, and we don't need a lot of dedicated bike lanes. For the most part, the cyclists find routes through neighborhood streets where there is minimal car traffic. Cars use the faster trunk roads. The only dedicated bike infrastructure are longer bike paths built on old rail lines, and in some areas where there is just no convenient low speed bike route such as a narrow artery between two lakes. And the long bike paths are at least partially if not primarily intended for recreation.

[loonster]

For certain bus lines in our city, the driver can press a button that will turn the light green.

[aix1]

This sounds awesome, but I'm guessing can only work if there are few buses? (I live in London and can't imaging such an arrangement being even remotely workable around here.)

[Symbiote]

The trams in Croydon work this way. There's an induction loop on the tramway which detects an approaching tram, and tells the traffic lights to change to allow the tram to cross the road/junction.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/tramlink_tram_priorit...

[aix1]

I just found this very nice paper about the transit priority system used in Zürich. Thought others might enjoy it too.

https://www.andynash.com/nash-publications/Nash2003-ZRH-PTpr...