Pilot testing cycling infrastructure
With trials of light segregation of cyclists piloted in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, planners needed short term data to evaluate how the treatments affected cyclists. The borough utilised Portable Bike Counters supplied by MetroCount to gather specific cycling numbers over a 7 day period at two trial locations.
The equipment was installed on dedicated cycle lanes to capture cyclist speed, direction, and overall volumes. According to Principle Transport Officer Nick Davies, “Traffic data is a key component of our ongoing assessments and monitoring of the schemes, providing a baseline of information. As a follow-up, the council will be undertaking further cycle counts using temporary counters, to assess the direct impact of this new cycling infrastructure on numbers in these locations.”
Barking and Dagenham has established itself as an early adopter of bike-friendly infrastructure. As part of the London cycle superhighways project, one of the two pilot routes, the CS3, connected Barking to Tower Gateway. An average of 5,000 individual journeys were recorded every day, encouraging the City of London to expand the bike path network across the city. At the same time, congestion and unsafe areas were identified along the superhighway, leading to further upgrades. According to Mr Davies, the data collected with the MetroCount system has proved very useful. “I am happy with our cycle counters and the valuable information they provide in our ongoing promotion, encouragement and facilitation of cycling as a safe healthy mode of travel within the borough and beyond.”
MC5720 Permanent Monitoring
Nick Davies has been actively engaged with cycle monitoring in recent years and has gained valuable insight from permanently installed Advanced Cyclists Monitor sites. “Our experience with MetroCount has always been positive, we currently have 3 permanent cycle counters which are located in 2 of our flagship parks and on a cycle link in the far north of the borough. These sites continue to provide us with accurate data of cycle journeys, broken down by hours with data retrieved remotely”. Permanent sites in the Borough are connected to FieldPod®, to enable remote site health checks and data download.
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