Bikeway Counts - July - What Tour de France effect?

The bikeway counts for July are in and in the most part they are not in all that surprising.

The counts were again conducted during a 40 minute bracket of peak hour on the

• Kurilpa Bridge - Monday
• Goodwill Bridge - Tuesday
• Bicentennial Bikeway - Wednesday
• South East Bikeway - Thursday
• Normanby Ped/Cycle Link - Friday

The thing that was of no great surprise was that apart from Kurilpa Bridge most other count locations showed not real difference in count numbers. Now this begs the question where is the Tour de France affect that the tabloid media always goes on about after the race. There is the usual complaints of Lycra clad middle age men swamping roads and getting in the way of everyone. If this is indeed true it certainly ain't happening on Brisbane's Bikeway's and it certainly ain't happening during peak hour. If there was indeed this affect it should of spilled over into the counts but it hasn't. Most count category's stayed mostly the same except for women overall. Overall women/men share of the count dropped from a ratio of 1/4 to 1/5 on the whole. Not a good sign but this may be put down to the winter weather.

The surprise result was Kurilpa Bridge jumping from 97 bikes in May to 114 in July. While this may have something to do with the count being conducted 10 minutes later to bring it in line with the rest of the counts (excluding Bicentennial) it does represent a jump of around 20%. It will only mean something substantial if the next count is also of a similar number next time but it is encouraging when all the other counts were almost stagnant.

Oh well it will be good to see what August will net as that will be the final month of Winter in Brisbane!If Brisbane is truly to hot to ride in, the Winter months should see numbers swelling but so far that is not the case.

Kurilpa Bridge Count 20120723

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 114

Sex

Male = 94 (82%)

Female = 20 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 48 (42%)

Other* = 66 (58%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 44 (46%)

Male Other* = 50 (54%)

                        5 citycycle included

Female Road = 4 (20%)

Female Other* = 16 (80%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due this count occurring 10minutes later than the original figures are not directly comparable.

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Goodwill Bridge Count 20120724

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 374

Sex

Male = 310 (82%)

Female = 64 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 162 (43%)

Other* = 221 (57%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 143 (46%)

Male Other* = 167 (54%)

                        2 citycycle included

Female Road = 19 (30%)

Female Other* = 45 (70%)

                        2 citycycle included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures cannot be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

      -             The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

 

Bicentennial Bikeway Count 20120725

Time = 7:20-8:00am

Total = 445

Sex

Male = 376 (83%)

Female = 69 (17%)

Bike Type

Road = 211 (47%)

Other* = 234 (53%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 198 (53%)

Male Other* = 178 (47%)

                        5 citycycles included

Female Road = 13 (39%)

Female Other* = 56 (61%)

                        4 citycycles included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bike passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrian

-                      This count includes cyclists going both east and west

-                      This count was conducted just west of the Hale Street Bridge with counter sitting in the shade under the Overpass

-                      Between 30-50% of road cyclists were in groups or seamed to be out riding for exercise and not commuting

-                      Due to the count was conducted 5 mins earlier than previous counts and is not directly comparable

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature

South East Bikeway Count 20120726

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 210

Sex

Male = 169 (80%)

Female = 41 (20%)

Bike Type

Road = 69 (33%)

Other* = 141 (67%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 56 (33%)

Male Other* = 113 (67%)

Female Road = 13 (32%)

Female Other* = 28 (68%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians as they are not permitted on the bikeway

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted under the Vulture St overpass

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature.

 

Normanby Ped/Cycle Link Count 20120727

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 104

Sex

Male = 85 (82%)

Female = 19 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 33 (32%)

Other* = 71 (68%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 30 (35%)

Male Other* = 55 (65%)

Female Road = 3 (16%)

Female Other* = 16 (84%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the southern end of link were it joins Parkland boulevard

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Bikeway Counts

Once again I have got some figures from peak hour bikeway counts. Like always these figures are quite interesting as they are broken into groups compared with the figures that come from the government which are just raw bulk numbers. While these numbers by no means show how many people overall are using the Bikeways like the government figures do they give a feeling of who is using in what proportions.

This time the counts have included 5 links into the CBD

• Bicentennial Bikeway
• South East Bikeway
• Normanby Ped/cycle Link
• Kurilpa Bridge
• Goodwill Bridge

The first thing that stands out with these figures is that Bicentennial Bikeway is the busiest corridor out of them all. The figure given equals to 11 bikes every minute passing the counter. It is also the only bikeway where road bikes near making up half the traffic. This easily brakes the stereotype that commuters have to ride road bikes.

Another thing that stands out from these counts is the low number of women riding bikes. In the Queensland Government own document "Queensland Cycling Strategy 2011-2021" it clearly states that men out number women 4 to 1. What is depressing about these counts is that these figures are reinforced. It would be expected that on separated infrastructure as where the counts occurred the proportion of female cyclists may be a fraction higher but unfortunately no. It has to be said just like in the document, Brisbane is lacking safe cycling infrastructure as women cyclists are the clearest indicator of that. In the Netherlands women account for 55% of people riding bikes because they are and feel safe.

The biggest surprise of the counts is the Kurilpa Bridge. While a heavily used bridge and the newest of the two Ped/cycle Bridges the bicycle numbers were quite low. These could of been due to the count occurring on a Monday or due to the count starting a little to early in the morning as apparently it got busier as the count went on.

It will be good to see what the next count may bring in figures are the chill of winter has finally reached Brissy and single figure night temperatures are once again beginning to set in.

Bicentennial Bikeway Count 20120516

Time = 7:20-8:00am

Total = 452

Sex

Male = 360 (80%)

Female = 92 (20%)

Bike Type

Road = 195 (43%)

Other* = 257 (57%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 175 (49%)

Male Other* = 185 (51%)

                        8 citycycles included

Female Road = 20 (22%)

Female Other* = 72 (78%)

                        6 citycycles included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bike passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrian

-                      This count includes cyclists going both east and west

-                      This count was conducted just west of the Hale Street Bridge with counter sitting in the shade under the Overpass

-                      Between 30-50% of road cyclists were in groups or seamed to be out riding for exercise and not commuting

-                      Due to the count was conducted 5 mins later then previous counts and is not directly comparable

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature

 

South East Bikeway Count 20120517

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 223

Sex

Male = 180 (81%)

Female = 43 (19%)

Bike Type

Road = 73 (33%)

Other* = 150 (67%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 63 (35%)

Male Other* = 117 (65%)

Female Road = 10 (23%)

Female Other* = 33 (77%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians as they are not permitted on the bikeway

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted under the Vulture St overpass

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature.

 

Normanby Ped/Cycle Link Count 20120518

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 105

Sex

Male = 82 (78%)

Female = 23 (22%)

Bike Type

Road = 41 (39%)

Other* = 64 (61%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 34 (41%)

Male Other* = 48 (59%)

Female Road = 7 (30%)

Female Other* = 16 (70%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the southern end of link were it joins Parkland boulevard

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Kurilpa Bridge Count 20120521

Time = 7:15-7:55am

Total = 97

Sex

Male = 74 (76%)

Female = 23 (24%)

Bike Type

Road = 36 (37%)

Other* = 61 (63%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 27 (36%)

Male Other* = 47 (64%)

                        4 citycycle included

Female Road = 9 (39%)

Female Other* = 14 (61%)

                        1 citycycle included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to numbers increasing latter during count, future counts will be conducted at a later time in the future (approx. 10min).

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Goodwill Bridge Count 20120522

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 388

Sex

Male = 316 (81%)

Female = 72 (19%)

Bike Type

Road = 146 (38%)

Other* = 242 (62%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 125 (40%)

Male Other* = 191 (60%)

                        4 citycycle included

Female Road = 21 (29%)

Female Other* = 51 (71%)

                        2 citycycle included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures cannot be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

South East Bikeway

As I commented yesterday there is only two Active Transport arterials in Brisbane.  The same bloke that did the count for the Bicentennial went out and did a count on the South East Bikeway this morning, figures can be seen below.

Unlike the Bicentennial Bikeway, the South East Bikeway is not dual mode, it is a bike only bikeway. While there are sections where it is shared these are the old non arterial parts of the bikeway that will eventually be bypassed with new high quality sections. This of course has it's good and bad sides. The main bad side to this is because pedestrians can not access it people have a poor understanding of the corridor ( that is of course if they do not get on a bike) Also because the corridor has no pedestrians on it, it get next to no media attention. This is ofcourse a good and a bad thing.

Currently the non arterial parts of the bikeway are planned to be replaced with High Quality bypasses. I will talk more about them in later postings.

The figures from this morning are quite interesting. First of all the figure for women is still well below the figure for men  at 4 to 1. The other fact that is quite interesting is that road bikes are out numbered 2 to 1 by other bikes. This is a swap compared with the Bicentennial where the road bikes made the majority. The later can be put down to two things in my mind.
1st- the South East is more a commuter path and lacking in views
2nd - many parts are still very rough and narrow not leanding themselves to bunch riding with road bikes

South East Bikeway Count 20120105

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 185

Sex

Male = 148.5** (80%)

Female = 36.5** (20%)

Bike Type

Road = 65 (35%)

Other* = 120 (65%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 53 (36%)

Male Other* = 95.5 (64%)

Female Road = 12 (33%)

Female Other* = 24.5 (67%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

.5**= indicates a tandem bike with both a male and female riding it

General Note

-                     Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                     This count did not include pedestrians as they are not permitted on the bikeway

-                     This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                     Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                     This count was conducted under the

Vulture St

overpass

-                     The weather was overcast with drizzle and moderate temperature but high humidity

Bicentennial Bikeway

The Bicentennial Bikeway is one of only two Active Transport arterial that run into Brisbane. While there are some other bikeways that run into the CBD this one and the South East Bikeway are the only two Arterials so far.

Currently the Bicentennial is going through an upgrade process. This upgrade is much needed as the corridor has been running at capacity for close to ten years now. According to figures from when the upgrade process began around 3 years ago the corridor was carrying 4000 pedestrian and cyclists movements a day. While this might sound like not much for a road this pretty much all a shared facility can carry safely without there being negative media stories ( and there has been plenty over the years). Just before Christmas the latest section opened with very little fan fair to my disappointment. While Brisbane Times ran a story and the CBD BUG posted the news of the opening on it's website, the Courier Trash (Mail) and BQ have completely ignored it at least on the online versions.

As I am a Nosey Bugger I went out and Had a look. I have to say it is very nice. While I am not a fan of the all out painting of green on the bike part of the path it will fad overtime.
What is more interesting, I have been supplied with these figures from a count that was done this morning. They enforce the fact the bikeway is heavily used and if you break them down it equals 10 bike passing the counter every minute(this is a combined East West number)

Bicentennial Bikeway Count 20120104

Time = 7:15-7:55am

Total = 441

Sex

Male = 362 (82%)

Female = 79 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 259 (59%)

Other* = 182 (41%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 222 (61%)

Male Other* = 140 (39%)

Female Road = 37 (47%)

Female Other* = 42 (53%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                     Not all bike passing were able to be counted

-                     This count did not include pedestrian

-                     This count includes cyclists going both east and west

-                     This count was conducted just west of the Hale Street Bridge with me sitting in the shade under the Overpass

-                     Between 30-50% of road cyclists were in groups or seamed to be out riding for exercise and not commuting

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