>>1029057sorry, i misquoted. he (or you) said
>most of the Peninsula has a lot of bike lanes on major streetswhich is very different from what you're saying (that there are bike lanes on suitable parallel roads in many places). someone has to know that there are parallel roads with dedicated bike lanes in order to use them, and the signage situation pointing out bike paths (like the Embarcadero Bike Path) could be made wayyyy more obvious for bicyclists that aren't already going there
and Lytton and Hamilton don't have dedicated bike lanes, dude. they just have paint on the road that reminds drivers that they need to share the road. see this picture (the google car is in the left turn lane at lytton and high street; the lane you're seeing is the one going forward). the paint just illustrates that the bicyclist should use that lane.
... which is literally already California law. a bicyclist is legally allowed to ride in a car lane, but they have to stay to the right side of the road "as practicable except ... if the lane is too narrow to share" (and some other cases).
so the paint isn't so much indicating a bike lane as a reminder for cars not to angrily yell at bicyclists for using the road that they're already supposed to do.
maybe you can make the argument that the parallel roads are safer because they're less trafficked than university, but that's vacuous. of course that's true. that doesn't mean palo alto is doing a particularly good job planning bike lanes.