Results from Session #3 of the Blackfriars Bridge Traffic Study (BBTS) have now been completed with respect to motor vehicle, cyclist and pedestrians volumes. Documentation in Session #3 occurred between 0648 and 0848 hours. Overall fewer observations were made in Session #3 compared to Sessions #1 and #2. The following tables will summarize the findings.
The first table below shows a comparison of the results from all three Sessions.
Some minor corrections were made to the previously mentioned data as it was discovered that the data collection sheets for cyclists and pedestrians was missing a “29” and the rows were labelled 28 then 30. Thus the total number of observations erroneously indicated one more observation. This correction has resulted in reduced totals by one observation in several cells.
With respect to motor vehicles the 112 observations in Session #3 was substantially lower than the 157 in Session #2 but substantially higher than the 77 in Session #1. With respect to the remaining observations (Cyclists, Pedestrians and Non-Pedestrians) all cells showed smaller frequencies than the first two Sessions.
Recall that “Non-Pedestrians” are those observed to be riding objects such as scooters, skateboards, roller-blades, medical carts, wheelchairs, etc. that do not fit into the three basic categories of motor-vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. In Session #3 only two Non-Pedestrians were observed: a male riding an e-scooter northbound on Ridout continuing westbound on the cycling lane of Blackfriars Bridge, and a male who was observed carrying his skateboard southbound across the pedestrian crossing and then jumping on the board just south of the crossing and continuing to ride southbound on the TVP. This seems quite minimal compared to the 25 and 29 observations of Non-Pedestrians in the previous two Sessions.
The next table below shows the distribution of cyclist actions in Session #3 as they passed through the site. As explained previously, the “Source” column indicates the direction from which the cyclist entered the study area and the remaining three columns indicate where the cyclist travelled upon leaving the study area. Similar tables have been shown in the previous articles discussing the previous two Sessions.
Given the early start in the morning (0648 hours) it is possible that the beginning of the session did not capture the morning peak of traffic and this is suggested in the following table which breaks down the frequencies of cyclist arrivals at the study site every 10 minutes. The data suggests that (at least) in the first 20 minutes until 0708 hours the number of cyclist observations was quite low (4 and 6 respectively).
The next table shows the data for pedestrian observations.
Similar to the cyclist observations the pedestrian volumes appeared to be low in the early part of the morning as shown in the table below which shows pedestrians arrivals at 15 minute intervals. It may be reasonable to say that pedestrian volumes up to 0733 hours were low (5, 6 and 8 observations respectively) in the first three 15-minute segments.
And finally a similar summary for motor vehicles suggests a low volume in the early part of the morning, as shown in the table below which shows motor vehicle arrivals at the study area at 10-minute intervals.
The above findings might suggest that the peak volume of traffic units at the site does not begin until sometime around 0730 hours. This may provide some explanation for the lower numbers of observations of all traffic units in Session #3.
In summary, there is still considerable variability in the volumes of the various traffic units from one Session to another. Yet we are starting to see a general range in those volumes. More data should help to stabilize this variance.
We have yet to discuss traffic conflicts in our study. This cannot be done until we conduct calculations of the approach speeds of the traffic units and this is likely to take considerable time. Some discussion of the methods/procedures of evaluating traffic conflicts will require a separate article in which we can use an example of how this analysis could take place.
For the future it is expected that (at least) another documentation Session will take place in the not too distant future. This documentation will occur early in the work week, perhaps a Monday or a Tuesday and the timing should be somewhere near noon to 1400 hours. Please stay connected as to these further developments.
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