To get to my old job, I used to cycle through the Meadows which is part of a National Cycle Route, and has a clearly marked cyclepath - big white bikes painted on it - adjacent to the footpath. Pedestrians wander all over the cyclepath, sunbathe on it, allow their kids to have screaming tantrums on it, walk towards you, see you coming and act as if you've just buggered their grandmother with a chainsaw when you politely suggest they might like to relocate to the footpath.
The canal path was also part of my commute - also part of a National Cycle Route, no separate cycle path, shared use all the way with speedbumps (which they're digging up again just now, having made such a mess of putting them in), chicanes and 6mph signs. It's a much narrower path than either the cycle path or the footpath in the Meadows, yet conflicts occur less often, in my experience. Occasionally there are the people with dogs on a long lead, people who don't hear the bell and then complain you didn't ring it and the like, but on the whole, it's not too bad.
And now my commute involves the Innocent path, part of a NCR, no divisions, no chicanes, no markings, no speedbumps, shared use - admittedly quieter than the Meadows and the canal path, but the only problem I've had is a couple cycling side by side who were reluctant to drop into single file to let me past them going the other way - but I suspect they're the people who won't let go when they're holding hands in the street either, forcing everyone else to walk in the gutter. People hear you when you ring your bell, they get their dogs to sit out of the way when you go past, cyclists are friendlier, everyone's more patient, and it's a pleasure. I went to a meeting yesterday via the Meadows and the canal path and was really struck by the difference between the routes - the Innocent is calm and patient, the Meadows is a seething mass of fuckwits.
