I would love to believe that ongoing heavy education of both car drivers and cyclists will reduce collisions but now with drivers texting (which was never possible 25 yrs. ago) and despite legislation in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta which bans car driving while texting, I'm not convinced much on driver "education". We can't even stop people from texting while they're driving despite police efforts.

It depends how carefully the cycle track is designed in relation to roads, with adequate barrier separation from cars, at intersections, signage, lighting and how cyclists enter/leave them.

Bi-directional tracks are a challenge to design for safety.

Yes, I do use one...there's one in my neighbourhood. I also lived in Vancouver where there were/are bidirectional cycle tracks with barriers from cars, within half km. from home which I used.