Letter of the Law; Spirit of the Law

I do have fond memories of the San Francisco Grand Prix (the now defunct one day race that was held early to mid September for the first part of the '00's). That is the basis for my concept on how cycling in SF would be. If you are a visual person, try this:

San Francisco has been working on a fairly comprehensive bike plan for about 10 years now. Apparently last week there was a suit filed to slow down the plan and subject it to environmental review. This prevents the painting of bike lanes, installation of bike racks, and transportation of bikes on SF Municipal Railway vehicles until they are in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (article).

I could be totally off base, but WTF? I understand you don't want bikes polluting the environment. Painting bike lanes on the street might destroy the delicate balance of the natural pavement ecosystem. Drilling into concrete to secure bike racks? That could tip the balance of nature in favor of man-made environmental features in the center of urban sprawl. You certainly not allow bicycles to piggyback on mass transit so the commuter could actually exercise as well as help the environment. Besides, that might eliminate additional transfers and the transit system would lose revenue by losing those commuters.

So now "they" get to spend a few years and a few million berries to determine if paint asphalt is bad for the environment; if bike racks are OK in a cityscape; and if mass transit will emit more pollution with bikes on board.