Popularity is a huge factor, but so is infrastructure. You need both to make it happen, in my opinion. I saw it happen in Paris over the last 10 years. Infrast

Popularity is a huge factor, but so is infrastructure. You need both to make it happen, in my opinion. I saw it happen in Paris over the last 10 years. Infrastructure used to be bad or inexistent (though not quite bad enough to have 0 cyclists). Then, with a push from the mayor, incentives it started to get better. The real turning points were the 2019 public transportation strike, then the pandemic. I'm pretty sure the infrastructure came first (though it's still an ongoing project), but the popularity is not to be dismissed. There is something magical about an intersection I used to consider dangerous (because I was cut-off about half the time by a driver not looking) transform into not dangerous without any infrastructure change, because of popularity (drivers now look and stop for cyclists at this intersection).