Originally Posted by
livedarklions
I also think that the roads they're suggesting this for are so low-volume that there's probably little or no call for a separated bike route in the immediate area.
Indeed. There's probably also no need for paint.
The ones that come immediately to mind for me are also neighbourhood streets, say north of Inman Square, and of course the issue there isn't the width but the parking - which ironically likely contributes to the cooperativeness of it.
Rural versions in the US are typically wide enough, unless they're dirt or were last paved a generation ago, but those properties tend to mean they don't have a consistently defined edge anyway, and often that they're shared between occasional farm use and people driving trips that are recreational and not just "late for work"
It's much more about attitude than infrastructure, and Europe seems to have much more expectation that color between the lines will actually result in it. In the US it's recognized there's a need to look at all the cues prompting behavior.