I think most people are just so shallow that all they see is mostly empty pavement reserved for bikes, and the only thing they can think of is taking it for themselves. They are stuck in traffic looking at perfectly good pavement, so the bike lane is “impeding” traffic because there could be a third lane right there (which of course is proven to not even help anyway, but they’ll clench to it, more lanes better)

A much younger me thought that way, especially my first drive to Montréal, it is a nightmare. But I also fell in love with all the stuff to do everywhere and moved there and forever changed my perspective. I’ve used the bike lanes much more than I’ve ever driven in the city, as most of my friends also did. My car got driven so little I had to jumpstart it every time I used it. I just rollerbladed everywhere I wanted to go to.

That’s the thing outsiders just can’t get in their minds: most of the locals in there don’t actually drive or drives very little or for specific purposes like groceries and work. The restaurant, you walk or metro to, you don’t even have to worry about holding back on the dinner wine. Even if you have a 45 minutes bus ride, just watch a YouTube video or something, much more enjoyable than dealing with traffic. I usually check my emails and respond to people and pay bills and other things like that.

I’m a very patient driver now. I’m stuck in traffic because I chose to drive, and I know I’ll be stuck in traffic so I leave plenty of buffer time and listen to a nice podcast as I waive pedestrians through. Life’s too short to be pissed off that bikers are going faster than you.