Comment & Analysis: Its a common story. As the common claim goes, theres nobody using cycle lanes.Its also nearly always horribly wrong in different ways its said about poor cycle lanes that people wont be attracted to use because of their flaws, and its said about good cycle lanes because people cycling dont get stuck in traffic jams on them, because bicycles are far more space efficient than cars.In the case of a new cycle route in Carlow town, a voice captured on video posted to Facebook said the quotes in the above headline, and they added: Youd land a plane on that thing.But it didnt take an in-depth investigation to find out that nobody was using the lane: the project isnt finished and isnt well connected to anything else yet.IrishCycle.com often hears these claims. Rather than dismissing them, I try to examine them. Although sometimes its worth dismissing people out of hand when people mention cyclists not using cycle lanes in areas where there are only rubbish cycle lanes.In Carlow, phase one of the project, the Carlow to SETU (South East Technological University) Pedestrian & Cycle Scheme, is still not finished. Theres a clue to this in the video theres no line marking on the cycle lanes. And phase two, which will connect SETU to parts of Carlow, including new and older cycling infrastructure of varying quality, is under construction. The huge clue to this fact is the road works holding up the traffic, which the people in the van should be aware of (of course, the context isnt mentioned in the video).The reality for most of the route, especially for motorists obeying the law, is that very little is changing. For example, at the point in the video clip was taken, there was a painted buffer which did not allow for overtaking, and now theres a solid white line which also does not allow for overtaking. The lad posting the video also mentions fictional road tax (which really isnt a real thing, and the idea of taxing cyclists is just daft).But he also asks: When does common sense come into play. My answer is that maybe it comes into play when people stop pretending projects are finished before they start asking, Where are the cyclists?Few cycle lanes are going to fill up straight away. Even when theres somewhat expected latent demand. But is it really too much to ask for to wait until a route is built before you start ranting about Where are the cyclists?Just two days ago, this website published an article with the headline: Cycle lanes are empty is same mindet as bus lanes are empty cranks Dubliners should be mad they dont have more cycle lanes.That article posed the following questions: 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?To give some support for this, we dont even have to look at pioneering research from decades ago in the Netherlands, which told us networks are needed, not just single routes. We can also look to London. In the citys Vision Zero action plan 2, Transport for London outlines that:Cycleways support a third of all cycle journeys across London. The vast majority (85 per cent) of cycling casualties happen off the cycleway network. Protected cycle routes have been linked to a 40 to 65 per cent reduction in cycling risk.Build it, and they will come. And Londons cycle network is still a work in progress.Will as many people use cycle lanes in Carlow as in London? Of course not. But in a town of something like 27,000 within a 3km radius of the town centre, theres a significant potential to shift shorter trips to cycling. The route on this road will serve both the third-level college and a secondary school. We know the wide-ranging benefits from health to the environment to mobility we just have to keep cutting past the loud people saying silly things.Under the article the other day, a comment was posted which said: Load of crap! Cycle lanes all around Walkinstown/ Greenhills/Ballyfermot and the idiots still cycle out in the middle of the road. It should be made mandatory that cyclists use them where provided full stop.As somebody who cycled from the city centre to Ballyfemot daily around 2009 and went a load of different ways each with their own faults Im bemused with the idea that anybody could think cycle lanes in the area could ever be used as a reasonable argument for the mandatory use of cycle lanes (see images below). Sadly, there have been few changes over a decade and a half since I commuted in the area. And this goes on and on. I worry for the ability of many motorists to drive safely, given that so many of them cannot see the state of our cycle lanes especially the older ones, but including some bits of newer ones.