[danphilibin]

> we also need to come up with incentives to light a fire under the butts of individual actors in our economy to actually go out and make things.

I've been watching something similar happen in LA with Measure HLA, a "safe streets" bill that was supposed to require the city to include safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists during regular road maintenance. The bill passed with broad support but none of the people in charge of the agencies seem to want to do any of that stuff, so they either drag their feet or simply don't comply, leading to lawsuits and delays. (Just today, Metro voted unanimously to not include a now-legally mandated bike lane along a major new busway, claiming it's not their problem. Which might be true — and that's a separate issue — but playing hot potato with safety & mobility improvements feels like a leadership problem, not a legal problem.)

I like designing good incentives but in this case just passing laws is not working. You also need the actors to want the change. (I personally would be focusing on installing new leadership.)

[kevin_thibedeau]

What usually happens with these mandates is you get road markings that pretend to be a bike lane just to satisfy the contract requirements and siphon off federal ISTEA funding for the budgetary savings. The reality is that they are usually fancy death traps with no engineering rigor put into making them safe or functional for bicyclists.

[baggy_trough]

Or worse, "sharrows" in the middle of a busy car lane. Ride here if you don't value your life.