Blackfriars Bridge Traffic Study – Session #2 – Large Reduction in Cyclist Observations

It was not surprising that the findings from Session #2 of the Blackfriars Bridge Traffic Study (BBTS) were different than Session #1: It was the magnitude of the difference that was surprising.

Earlier we reported that the volume of motor vehicle traffic had increased by about 100% from Session #1 to Session #2. Now results have also been tabulated for cyclist observations. Substantial differences were noted between Session #1 and #2. The table below shows the cyclist observations from Session #2.

We provide the following explanations of the table contents. The “Source” column indicates the location from which the cycle entered the study area. So the “SB TVP” cell signifies all those cyclists who entered the site travelling southbound on the Thames Valley Parkway. Then we look at where the cyclists went, either continuing southbound the the Thames Valley Parkway (SB TVP), turning to travel south on Ridout Street (SB Ridout), or turning to travel westbound onto Blackfriars Bridge (WB Blackfriars). So in the top row of the above table there were 67 cyclists who entered the site from southbound on the Thames Valley Parkway. 57 of those continued to travel southbound on the Thames Valley Parkway. 7 cyclists turned to travel south on Ridout Street and 3 cyclists turned to travel westbound on Blackfriars Bridge. The rest of the cells should now be self-explanatory.

In contrast, the table below shows the cyclist observations from Session #1, which have been shown previously.

In Session #1 a total of 294 cyclists were observed in the 2-hour  period between 1300 and 1500 hours of Sunday, May 29th, 2022. In Session #2 a total of 169 cyclists were observed in the 2-hour period between 1530 and 1730 hours of Friday, June 17th, 2022. That appears to be a substantial reduction of cyclist observations in Session #2. No conclusions will be made at this time. There is still much to do in terms of gathering more data.

Unofficially, while standing at the site, it appeared to us that the speed of eastbound motor vehicles  was substantially higher in Session  #2 than what we observed in Session #1. No speed calculations have been performed at this time so this is just an informal comment. It is expected that a detailed study of this issue with occur in the future.

Stay tuned as more analysis is continuing. We will be examining the volume of pedestrian traffic in Session #2. We also expect to conduct Session #3 in the near future, and possibly more. Eventually we will also be examining the speeds of the various observed units (motor vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, etc.) and what collision conflicts may exist.

Lots more to come…