madpogue 

I think we're all singing this same song, in every medium-to-large city in North America. "Taught" is the keyword. And everything "we" do is a teachable moment. Just as an observer / "consumer" of the positive changes that have happened here, I see two major factors, somewhat related, driving that education process. One is economics. Money. When those resistant to such change discover that those of us driving the change have potential economic influence, the bar starts to move. It's been found multiple times here that improving the multi-trans infrastructure, and the overall environment for multi-mode transportation, improves the economy at a very local level.

The other is sheer numbers. As "our" numbers grow, the more likely people in the general population know someone -- a co-worker, a family member, a fellow church-goer, a neighbor, etc -- who does what we do. That makes our presence on the road more recognizable, and ultimately more acceptable. So the day-glow geek "hogging" the road a half-block ahead, who might have been an irritation to an average driver a few years ago, that driver now thinks it might be his barber, or his next boss, or his next client.

And of course, the economics drive the participation, and the participation drives the economics, and......