I wonder if transportation planners know the fallout of their decisions.
For a road user like myself, unprotected by a steel cage, every near miss, every angry honk, every punishment pass lingers. You remember it the next time you go that way. The trauma compounds. 1/

Every negative encounter makes you rethink your routing. Another road you won't bike on. Another intersection you won't go through. You limit your options to protect yourself. Eventually, you may hit a point where you give up on biking altogether. 2/

"Why don't we see more cyclists on x route?" Because the danger is real - either we see it and avoid it or we've come close enough to death due to negligent design and drivers. Every single person who rides a bike regularly carries trauma from these places. 3/3