More people are cycling, but a faster-built connected network is needed to step it up a gear. A few short projects in Dublin City Centre could add to a developing network, but Dublin City Council is using a scatter gun approach to route building. Comment & Analysis: Despite what the doubters think, survey after survey shows that most people in Ireland, including Dublin, want more cycle lanes.As covered on these pages recently, that still leaves a significant number of people who dont support investing in cycling a significant minority can seem very loud at times.And I can nearly hear somebody say: But all of my mates hate cycle lanes heres the thing, the data is from population-level representative surveys, so it can show that most people are supportive of something even if your circle of friends are all against it.The number of people cycling has grown in Dublin Census data shows it, traffic count data shows it, and it is very clearly happening when half-decent cycle tracks are built, such as on the Clontarf to City Centre Bus and Cycle route (pictured above).However, Dublin City Council is in a unique position to unlock cycling in its area and, in more than a few cases, to help neighbouring areas too. It has the highest cycling modal share in the State and controls most of the urban areas with the greatest cycling growth potential.There are layers and layers of complications here; Rome was not built in a day, and BusConnects routes will do some of the heavy lifting in terms of cycle routes into the city centre. etc, but the progress on cycle route building by the council continues to be painfully slow, and while some progress has been made, Dublin City Council continues to avoid making hard decisions and to connect disjoined bits of its cycle network.Two prime examples are the slowness in connecting the Clontarf route to the quays and the unwillingness to complete the Liffey Cycle Route to a reasonably high level of connectivity, safety, and comfort. This leaves two key routes, including the backbone along the quays, unfinished and unattractive to most people considering cycling even some of the time.The Liffey is only one of many examples of relatively short projects that are delayed or not yet considered, but that could have a high impact on making cycling more attractive for people who do not currently cycle or who limit the amount they cycle because of poor links in the network.Most people are not going to cycle when theres disjointed bits of cycle lanes here and there, as is the case now Are Dublin City Councils officials or councillors expecting otherwise? Why are they acting as if they do? If not, why is there not a greater focus on connecting the network before building routes elsewhere?After years of investment and debate, the city centre should at least have solid attempts at continuous north-south and east-west routes by now. Instead, Dublins only north-south cycle route that crosses the Liffey in both directions hardly extends beyond walking distance of the river on both sides, and it has no east-west route through the city centre.The only continuous route to/from even the inner suburbs to the core city centre is a combination of the cycle path along the quays from the Docklands to OConnell Bridge, where it abruptly starts/ends and is hard to access from the southside. Of course, that route in the Docklands links to the Royal Canal Greenway and the Grand Canal Way, but to get to the city centre, you need to use those routes as far as around the Convention Centre which is quite a detour for most.Even if it was deemed that the quays are untouchable for now, for whatever reason for now, theres so many options here.For example, the yellow links on this map (and some fixes on the green sections) would amount to around 2.5km of quick-build routes, which would at least start to join up areas of the city. All of the space required here is, for the most part, already planned to be given to cycling as part of BusConnects or other projects.Even in the case of North King Street, taking a traffic lane away will not take much away in terms of car capacity compared to what will be available once the BusConnects routes start to be built in the area. Most of the time, the two lanes are not even very effective at moving cars, and often one lane is taken up by ad hoc parking. Another obvious option away from BusConnects routes and other planned projects is the Werburgh St / Bride St / Heytesbury corridor. The council has already started work on the route, and given the low number of buses on it, it should now be a priority to upgrade and extend it as an active travel route.To be clear: Im not just adding the phrase active travel to be inclusive; as with most cycle path projects, pedestrian improvements are needed here too. Dublin is really missing a focus on network building, and that includes using more tools than just cycle paths. Such as using minor streets as quiet routes. Not for the sake of it, but because once traffic calming, filtering (where needed), and junction fixes are put in place, these types of routes can form important links. Including, for example, an east-west link off Bride Street to the route mentioned above in Marrowbone Lane (shown mainly in orange in the centre of the image below).Or the low-traffic routes in Portobello (shown in orange towards the bottom of the image) would link to the Rathmines Road and Harolds Cross. IrishCycle.com isnt mainly suggesting cycling here for climate reasons or for cleaner air or even for people to be healthier all of these are good reasons to give space to cycling. But the main reason here is accessibility and fairness keeping the city moving and keeping the promises to people.The Dublin City Centre Transport Plan cut off through routes for cars and promised not only to give priority to buses but also to support cycling as another alternative. Support for cycling has been very slow. The planned route on Gardner Street this year is to be welcomed, but it is far from enough. Then there is the construction of MetroLink and the BusConnects Core Route Corridors this will be a shock to the system in Dublin. Making other options safe and attractive as soon as possible is key to keeping the city moving while the works are ongoing throughout the coming decade. Dubliners should be mad that they dont have more safe and attractive cycle routes. If you want more, sadly, you need to fight for the city to keep its promises.