email from a world traveling listener:
Hi Marty,
I've been away (in Europe) for the past 2 months, so not only have I escaped the terrible weather here, I've been able to gather some "real" information regarding the cycling facilities in other major centers, where they enjoy MANY MORE months of "active transportation" friendly weather.
Rome. I only saw one bike path in Rome. In my mind, if you ride a bike in Rome, you have a death wish. The roads are not conducive to being narrowed, and so...they don't.
Florence. Here, there were more bike paths, painted a rose sort of colour, but they were often narrow, and were also bi directional. While there were not a lot of bike lanes I saw, they were there... but there weren't many cyclists using them.
Verona. Well here I saw a lot of bikes, but that was because of the Tour de France. The roads in the center of the city are not specifically geared to cyclists.
Venice (the island) Forget about a bike. Didn't see one.
Nice. Cyclists share the boardwalk along the major routes, which are wide enough to accommodate both types of "active transportation". There does not appear to be a substantial set of infrastructure for cyclists.
Cologne. The old city has many roads closed to vehicle traffic, or severely restricted. These are shared by pedestrians and cyclists, some of whom travel around at a pretty good clip. Bridges have cycle lanes, bi directional, with almost no identification as to where a person should walk, but they are wide enough so that it's not a problem. The sidewalks are divided, so bikes use one side, and peds the other. The bike lane is painted, or a different coloured asphalt is used to make it "clear". I was "caught" in the bike lane a couple of times, to which I got "the bell".
Dresden. Didn't see anything specific.
Berlin. Same as Dresden
Hamburg. Not much, but these large cities are in a position to put bike paths in/through parks and other green areas (think Minneapolis)
Amsterdam. Bikes rule. They have their own lanes, their own traffic lights, parking garages, bike stands are everywhere. People own a few bikes and will ride from home to the train station, take the train to the next station where they hop onto another bike and ride it to work. There are literally THOUSANDS of bikes visible at any one time... and DON'T get in their way.
Paris. Nothing that struck me as specific, they have a few bike lanes, but there is a lot of vehicle traffic, and peds.
London. Bicycles can share the sidewalks, parks in certain areas provide good connections for bike users, but I didn't see a lot of infrastructure on the major routes, or in the traffic circles.
