While recent government policies have mouthed encouragement for travel by means other than the automobile, specific policies of the past that actually do the opposite have, for the most part, remained intact. These are not only bicycle prohibitions, but outright subsidies for the automobile. The sales tax for freeways encourages greater and longer distance car commuting.
Government forces great parking lots to be provided, as a function of floor area and building usage.
Cities usually force one parking space per bedroom for apartments, and one parking space per restaurant table. Government required parking is actually a forced subsidy for the automobile which only car commuting employees, not bicyclists or transit patrons, benefit from. The ideal would be for companies to charge for parking and divide the money by the number of employees, refunded in paychecks. By removing the artificial incentive for car commuting, other transportation modes are encouraged. But it is not to the company's financial advantage to use this or any other scheme to discourage the number of cars brought to work because the cities force so many parking spaces per floor area, even if the spaces go unused, thus preventing productive use of the land.