eb wrote in
:

snip

I think everyone is missing the point of cycling lanes. It's not about
security blankets or anything like it but it is about keeping bikes out
of traffic lanes because they seriously erode capacity.

I'm sure lots of people will want to argue and yes if 15% of people were
commuting on bikes then it would be less of an issue. But through lane
capacity is calculated from a 2s headway at whatever the speed limit is.
While most of us hit higher speeds downhill very few of us can maintain
60 km/h on the flat for any length of time. That is the lowest speed
for an arterial road. Mixing bikes/cars etc will reduce capacity, hence
the cycle lane. Intersections are somewhat different but the same still
applies.

I agree that cycle lanes are next to useless on surburban roads and
really shouldn't be placed on them due to the parked vehicle issue
(centre cycle lanes are another option rarely used here).

If you are regularly having problems with a section of bike lane on
certain roads then TELL SOMEONE (council or the SRA). Believe it or not
we keep this stuff and when we are doing work in an area we will go back
over the file to see if there are specific issues. If enough people
raise an issue then we will usually cary out a safety audit to see if
anything can be done (cheaply).

So probably nothing will change in the short term but maybe there is a
simple solution (removal of on street parking or allowing cyclists to
use a footpath and putting in facilities to encourage it). If you get
really lucky there will be someone who wanted to remove the parking
anyway and you just gave them the excuse.

It is generally very hard to get any feedback from users and it does
help if you know what works and what doesn't.

Cheers
BrettM