Request ID: FOI-0968-2223 Date published: 08 August 2022
You asked
Good afternoon,
Please provide me with the following information pertaining to cycle lanes on Woolwich Road, SE10 and SE7:
Breakdown of the number of cyclists using cycle lanes per day for the months of February 2021 to June 2022.
Please also state:
1) How many cycle counters there are on this route.
2) How TfL is able to avoid counting the same cyclist twice on this route should the cyclist cycle past more than one cycle counter.
3) Whether there is the potential to double-count cyclists by way of multiple cycle counters if there is more than one cycle counter on this route
We answered
TfL Ref: 0968-2223 Thank you for your request received by us on 20 July 2022 asking for information about cyclists using cycle lanes per day on Woolwich Road, south east London.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked for:
information pertaining to cycle lanes on Woolwich Road, SE10 and SE7:
Breakdown of the number of cyclists using cycle lanes per day for the months of February 2021 to June 2022. Please also state: 1) How many cycle counters there are on this route.
2) How TfL is able to avoid counting the same cyclist twice on this route should the cyclist cycle past more than one cycle counter.
3) Whether there is the potential to double-count cyclists by way of multiple cycle counters if there is more than one cycle counter on this route.
We can advise that in the postcodes of SE7 and SE10 along the Woolwich Road corridor, there are a total of five digital camera sensors; three are bidirectional, and two are eastbound only. The location of these sensors are shown in the attached map below.
Note these sensors utilise count-lines that are placed across the road to specifically count cyclists.
Attached is a spreadsheet which provides the 24-hour total cycle counts from the requested dates where we have data available. Please note there is no February or March 2021 data as these dates are from before the digital cameras were installed. An outlier flag has been applied to 15 of 3,592 observations.
Please also note that double counting of cycling along a corridor is not in principle possible. Cycle counts are only used at specific count locations. The correct unit for measuring cycle demand outside of a cycle count location that is along a corridor or across a network region is referred to in cycle kilometres. This is because what matters is how far each cyclist goes on their bike. One cyclist, for instance, could do ten kilometres, which is also the same demand on the road as ten cyclists traveling one kilometre each. In the example above we would allocate counters to three or four different sections of Woolwich Road, depending on direction, so that each section summed would equal the length of Woolwich Road.
Therefore, along a corridor counts of cyclists are not summed. Each cycle count location is allocated to a section of the corridor. If a cyclist passes that location it is assumed they have completed the distance in kilometres to which the sensor is allocated. This way the total demand in terms of cycle kilometres for the corridor can be summed, thus avoiding double counting if the unit used was the count of cyclists..
Cycle demand for the Woolwich Road should always be expressed in terms of cycle kilometres completed. This is the methodology TfL applies to all modal demand. Demand for road space is always measured in vehicle or cycle kilometres not as counts of vehicle or cycles.
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 Jasmine Howard FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
