Gorski Consulting Involved in Annual Velo Cyclist Counts

by | Jun 24, 2022 | News

This view, looking west along Dundas Street at Colborne is where cyclist observations were made by Gorski Consulting on the morning of June 8, 2022.

As per last year’s involvement, Gorski Consulting participated in Velo Canada’s cyclist counts that took place throughout Canada between June 7 and June 12, 2022. We volunteered to conduct observations between 0700 and 0900 hours along Dundas Street just west of Colborne Street on the eastern edge of downtown London. This was a chilly morning given the normally expected warm temperatures and this may have led to some lower cyclist observations. Never-the-less, 14 westbound and 15 eastbound cyclists were documented between the precise 2-hour time of 0654 and 0854 hours. The manner in which our video cameras were set up also allowed for views of cyclists travelling north-south along Colborne however, since we were not assigned to document cyclists on Colborne no official count has been made.

An example of one of our video cameras mounted to the back-side of a sign (in the foreground) at the south-east quadrant of the intersection of Dundas and Colborne Streets.

An example of a typical eastbound female cyclist stopped in the south cycling track of Dundas at Colborne.

The character of cycles is changing rapidly in London, Ontario. As shown here, e-bikes are becoming much more numerous.

As we conduct our observations there is no shortage of situations where cycling dangers unfold, even on a designated cycling track, as shown in the three photos below.

Here a westbound cyclist travelling on the north cycling track of Dundas Street encounters a motor vehicle which has come to a stop blocking the cyclist’s path.

As the cyclist approaches the stopped vehicle he veers out of the cycling track.

The cyclist must veer back to the right again when the rear end of a parked police vehicle encroaches in the cycling path.

Such unfortunate encounters occur regularly in numerous scenarios throughout the City of London. They cause some anger and intolerance. What we believe is that detailed, objective and unbiased data can help to educate all users of roadways in reducing instances of such potential danger.