Cycle survey results

Summary of cycle surveys carried out in Spring 2015

Sunday 17th May Monday 1st June
Total number of cyclists northbound on bridge 304 81
Total number of cyclists southbound on bridge 367 97
Total number of cyclists E to W
(not crossing bridge)
41 9

Quick Analysis

Analysis of the figures reveals…

  • Striking difference between weekend and weekday cycle numbers despite similar weather conditions
    • Suggests few people commute by bike
    • Leisure (Sunday) cyclists greater than commuter cyclists by a factor of almost 4
  • Northbound numbers lower than southbound on each day
    • Probably needed to start survey earlier to catch the early birds!
  • Sizeable number of cyclists counted travelling east to west i.e. travelling across top of Island but not over bridge, especially on Sunday
  • Close match between following pairs of figures: west pavement and the Billy trail; on-road and main road; east pavement and Northney. The logical conclusion is that:
    • people cycling on the Billy trail use the west pavement to cross the bridge;
    • many using the main road on Hayling also cycle on-road across the bridge; and
    • many travelling to/from Northney cross the bridge on the east pavement.
  • Comparison with Hampshire County Council figures for 2005 and 2011 indicates:
    • A marked rise in leisure cycling since 20111HCC figures for cycle numbers at a weekend averaged over the month of May (total number travelling north and south across bridge):
      • 2005: 320 cycle crossings per day
      • 2011: 357 cycle crossings per day
      • Cycle Hayling survey for Sunday 17 May 2015: 671 cycle crossings per day
    • A marked drop in commuter cycling since 20112. HCC figures for weekday cyclists averaged over Mon to Fri and over month of May:
      • 2005: 302 cycle crossings per day
      • 2011: 336 cycle crossings per day
      • Cycle Hayling survey for Monday 1 June 2015: 178 cycle crossings per day

1A direct comparison is not possible, however, because HCC figures are averaged over the whole weekend, rather than just Sunday.

2Again a direct comparison is not possible, because HCC figures are averaged from Monday to Friday. Another set of HCC data for 2015 shows cycle numbers are much lower on first day of working week.

It would be useful to gather more information about commuter cyclist numbers by counting bikes throughout a working week, say from 6am-9am and 4pm-7pm and/or using HCC data gathered electronically at north end of bridge.

Raw data

You can see the raw data for Sunday 17th May as a PDF document and as an Excel spreadsheet.

Similarly, you can see the raw data for Monday 1st June as a PDF document and as an Excel spreadsheet.

Thanks

I would like to thank everyone who helped with this project; for putting up with cold winds, tedium and rearranged dates. I also want to thank those who volunteered but could not make the final dates.

One Reply to “Cycle survey results”

  1. Very interesting stats and confirms perception about weekend as to weekday usage. Worrying about the drop in bike commuting especially when one factors in the growth in population.On other matters, I have sharpened my scythe and sickle but heard not more about the clean-up project for the new bit of cycle track alongside Death Alley as we old pedallers call it.

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