Since there doesn't seem to be a general thread about bike lanes yet, I guess I'll start one here.
Over the past few weeks, I've been looking at Dutch roads for quite a bit, and noticed how well bike lanes are designed over there compared to here in the US. Note that I'm not going to suggest anything about removing/banning cars in favor of bikes here (unlike some "urbanists"). I think that both cars and bikes can coexist on a road, and with good infrastructure for both.
I've looked up the MUTCD for bike lane design standards here, and something that I don't get is that why does the bike lane have to cross at the start of a right turn lane? To me, it seems safer for the bike lane to stay on the right side of a right turn lane, as when the right turning car stops at the intersection to look at perpendicular traffic, they can also look at the bike lane while on that same stop before turning.
Continuing from the above image, that "bike lane" suggested in the MUTCD is pretty much a standard road shoulder with a bike symbol painted on it. I've heard it called a "bicycle gutter" before. Is it too much to ask for some separation between a bike lane and the car lanes by default, either with a double white line with some clear space in the middle, or with some sort of physical separation, like those white floppy things? Or even better, a bike path at sidewalk height. I've seen a lot of those here in West Lafayette, IN, and I really enjoy biking on them.
Does anyone else feel like the shared lane symbol is redundant (as cyclists are supposed to bike on the road when no bike lane is present by default), and give a false sense of security to cyclists?
An intersection design that I really like lately, called a "protected intersection" have curbs separating the bike lanes from the car lanes. Here's a satellite view of the first US example in Salt Lake City:
I read up a traffic rule that benefits cyclists called an "Idaho Stop", which allows cyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign, and a red light as a stop sign. Personally, as someone that bikes everyday to get around, I like that new rule, though I can see how some drivers would hate it, as there are tons of road rage issues of drivers against cyclists and pedestrians. Also, doesn't a lot of European cities use yield signs for cars in places where a stop sign would be used in the US?