[christofoo]

I forgot to add: they didn't talk about safety / traffic issues. I think the fact is that it's difficult for planners to integrate velomobiles (or even other recumbent type cycles) into certain traffic situations.

For example, the low-profile nature makes them especially difficult for cars to see in a right-of-way situation and can lead to intersection collisions. So there's a safety advantage to puting the velomobiles into the traffic lane instead of the bike lane.

Maybe suspended forward lighting could help with that problem.

There are also many cases where velos and trikes won't fit properly (with door zone clearance) in the cycle lanes.

But unless velomobiles can be expected to meet some minimum speed requirements, vehicular integration can lead to traffic flow problem on a) higher speed (40-50 mph) roads, b) uphills, where un-assisted velos can drop well below 10 mph, depending on rider fitness. So what do you do, require electric assist for all trikes and other vehicles that shouldn't be expected to ride FRAP ("far right as practicable")?

I've always seen recumbents and trikes as an unsolved traffic issue, although there may be a reasonable solution. But I think even if there is a good solution, it would be difficult for regulators to agree on it across the world and make it happen. Someone is going to be marginalized and angry if you tell them they can't have a fully human powered velo, or they have to have a fancy lighting system even in the daytime.