Indeed most major roads have adjacent bike paths. Certainly not all though. No highways do, and there are some other roads where it doesn't make sense.
Cycling on highways is a total no-go here. I've never heard of it happening, and I'd expect the police to be called whenever someone sees it.
You're right on the narrow streets and low speeds. That is a much bigger cultural / civil-engineering thing. It makes me wonder how cycling infrastructure is done in Rotterdam. It's city centre needed to be completely rebuild after WW2. The result is regarded by some as ugly or 'american'. Perhaps this has affected cycling, or perhaps that was taken into account in the rebuild.
Re:Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists
by TulliusCicero on Saturday June 24, 2017 @03:48PM
(#14627175)
In the US you can't bike on freeways either (I avoid saying 'highways' as technically the term can refer to a number of different types of roads, whereas freeways only mean roads that have completely controlled access (on ramps and off ramps, no stoplights or stop signs)).
I was thinking of [1], ever since I saw that, I thought Americans were crazy cyclists. Upon further research that video is from Russia. Seems like american cycling is much better than I thought.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hVXhg8zvkI&ab_channel=Stree...
> Here in the netherlands, cyclist paradise, we don't even have a painted bike lane on nearly every street.
With narrow streets and low speeds, cyclists and cars can effectively mix. It's just that in the US, politically that's an even harder sell than protected bike lanes, most of the time.