FOI request detail

Traffic data for South Kensington

Request ID: FOI-0069-2122
Date published: 26 April 2021

You asked

Good morning, I manage a project for Imperial College London called INHALE which aims to study the impact of air pollution on individuals health in an urban environment. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/earth-science/research/inhale/ We are currently developing models to predict pollution distribution around a small area in Kensington (around the Imperial College campus) and it would be incredibly helpful to have traffic data for the period of May 2020 until mid-September 2020 to supplement the air quality data we have collected using stationary monitors. We have air pollution data from stationary monitors placed at the corners of: Exhibition Road and Kensington Gore (GPS: 51.50172424316406, -0.1748194992542266); Exhibition Road and Queens Gate (GPS: 51.50135803222656, -0.1804630011320114); and Queens Gate and Cromwell Road (GPS: 51.49554824829102, -0.1790180057287216). I understand that you have a number of automatic traffic counters around London and so it would be helpful to get the raw data from any sites within or close to the sample sites we have for the period mentioned above. I would be happy to review the locations you have to reccomend the most relavent if that would help. If you have any other data on traffic numbers and types (from manual counts for example), that would also be appreciated.

We answered

TfL Ref: FOI-0069-2122 Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 13 April 2021, asking for traffic data in and around Kensington. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. Please find attached raw data from our Automatic Traffic Counters (ATC) on Kensington Road, Cromwell Road and Brompton Road (the three closest to your monitoring stations) for the period 01/05/20 to 30/09/20. As this is raw data please be aware of any gaps in the data due to potential outages. We do not have any manual count data available in the area for 2020. I have also attached a map of the ATC locations. Please see explanation of what each column refers to within the spreadsheet: • Sdate – Refers to the date and hour the data is recorded at • Cosit – this is the site ID so 21 refers to ATC 21 etc. • LaneNumb – refers to how many lanes are being counted at this site, each number is accompanied by a lane description and lane direction • LaneDescription – refers to the roads direction and which lane it is within that direction e.g. North Nearside • LaneDirection – splits the lanes into the flows of traffic so all travelling in one direction will have the same LaneDirection value • DirectionDescription – refers to just the direction the traffic travels down the road in • The most important column is G, Volume: This will provide the total flow at that time in that lane. Volume is further divided into classes 1, 2 and 3. This determines the size of the vehicle. Please note if the second loop at the ATC site is damaged the class volume cannot be recorded so all columns may be blank if this is the case. We do not validate the different class flows either so their accuracy cannot be as guaranteed as the ATC volume. o The class breakdown is as follows:  Class 1 - <5.2m  Class 2 – between 5.2m and 12m  Class 3 - >12m If you are considering submitting a further request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI/EIR requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation. If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed. Yours sincerely Eva Hextall FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London

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