Bill Z.
HOV lanes are a completely different animal.
Here are differences between truck, HOV, and bus lanes with bike lanes:
-These vehicles are typically not held by law, or motorist coercion, to use their specific lanes as are bicyclists.
-These lanes are not substandard width, as are bike lanes.
-These lanes, except for the truck lanes, give advantages in speed to the user. Bike lanes sometimes require slower speed than the user is capable of. The speed advantage of filtering forward is dubious given the risks of overtaking on the right, and is also accomplished if desired by simple wide lanes, though it is not encouraged as with bike lanes.
-These lanes do not sometimes harbor debris which consbreastutes a hazard to their user. (There is a simple specific mechanism why debris gathers in BLs.)
-These lanes are not intended for single track vehicles. Because they are used by wide vehicles with their operator positioned on the left side of the vehicle, they do not result in significant sight triangle restriction for the user. This is in contrast to bike lanes in which the operator is constrained to a poor sight triangle location near the side of the road.
-These lanes are without exception desired by the intended vehicle operators. In contrast, many bicyclists don't want bike lanes.
You buttume a typical bicyclist position under "ideal" conditions.
You say bicyclists can leave the bike lane on the condtion "if riding as fast as traffic." Here, when I desend the many urban hills in 12 or 13 ft lanes on 35 mph roads, I use the whole lane since my speed is typically 25 to 35 mph, too fast to be in a bike lane (if one existed). Motorists slow behind me and change lanes to pbutt. If the road was reconfigured with bike lanes, my space would be reduced unless I was so bold as to use the now created "automobile" lanes and risk the ire of the higher caste users. If the lane was 16 ft wide I would still use the whole lane because at my speeds I don't want beer trucks (jor anybody else) pbutting me at 45 mph in my lane.
Wayne
