I know it's a pipe dream, but it would be great to have dedicated paths in all cities and suburbs for people who don't want to compete with tons of steel and fumes.
My town (Peachtree City, Georgia) is one of those towns. No, it's not a big city, and it's far off from Atlanta (35 miles), but within our city limits we have dedicated paved paths for electric golf carts, electric bikes, pedestrians, etc. And although there is the potential for accidents, it's extremely rare because everyone is exposed, regardless of vehicle. There's no barrier of steel and glass, such as with regular cars. People aren't going to honk, give the finger, yell, etc., because we're all looking at each other eye-to-eye and very close. It would almost be like if everyone drove a convertible.
Therefore people drive their golf carts like boats, waving to each other and saying hello as they pass. We call from behind ("on the left) when we come upon walkers, joggers or regular bikes. The paths range from six feet wide to ten feet wide, and with the exception of teenage boys, everyone drives safely. The golf carts are all registered with large ID numbers on the side (only about ten bucks a year) and the cops patrol the paths on golf carts, four-wheelers, bicycles, and on rare occasions a regular car (very rare).
Normally I would look at my taxes and think, "What the heck am I actually getting for this?" But here I can look around and actually see and use the facilities that my taxes build. Paths, libraries, parks, pools, and more. It's really cool. (But avoid our local newspaper and the comments section. It's a whine-fest of Teapartiers who think everything is going to hell in a handbasket any minute. Not sure what they are complaining about).
Anyway, I think it could be a model for the rest of the nation.
Granted, for those who are doing a serious bicycle commute of, say, ten or fifteen miles each way, it wouldn't be helpful because of the speed limitations (19mph is the limit), but if you live and work in this town you don't need a regular car. Everything is on the path system, including medical facilities (serious trauma care is outside of town, however).
And another bonus: Even though teenage drivers aren't the best examples of safety (especially the boys), the parents feel a lot better sending them in a 19mph golf cart around town than a car. As far as I know, only two deaths occurred on the path system since it began about forty years ago. One was a lady who fell out of a golf cart and hit her head as it went quickly around a corner and the other was a cyclist who had a head-on crash with a golf cart and died of a head injury (and he was actually wearing a helmet...fluke).
Hopefully I didn't highjack the thread. Just seeking a two-state solution, so-to-speak. A mechanical apartheid.
Notice in this photo how the path system bypasses main roads using bridges and tunnels. The only time cars and bikes are on the same road is in residential neighborhoods, and that's usually just a crossing of some kind. You can basically go anywhere in town and not have to interact with cagers.
This is the main road through town for the cars. Two lanes in each direction. The photo was taken from a bridge over the road (the bridge is only for e-vehicles, walkers, etc.).
And this is the bridge over the state highway (as mentioned above).
Finally, in this last photo you see a cart path (that's what we call them) along side a narrow, one way country road for cars. It's also an enjoyable place to drive a regular car. Very safe (because it's rare to have a two-lane road without a large median. We have a lot of one-way roads through the trees for the big guys).
