May 2010
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Spokes May traffic count

For the fourth May in a row, cyclist numbers have risen whilst private cars have fallen…

On May 11th Spokes volunteers again counted traffic at our usual 4 count-points, northbound and southbound on Lothian Road and on Forrest Road.   The results file and the file of trends over the years can be found in our Spokes Traffic Counts downloads page.

Some points of interest…

  • Cyclist numbers rose only marginally compared to May 2009 but private cars fell substantially.  Commercial traffic (which includes buses) rose.
  • Overall, bikes rose from 14.4% of all vehicles to 14.7% between 8-9am.   In that time slot, bikes comprised 17.9% of all northbound vehicles on Lothian Road and 22.3% northbound on Forrest Road.
  • Southbound cyclists rose significantly, although still remaining far below those northbound.
  • Cyclists rose at every count point except northbound on Forrest Road – can the decline there be explained by the reopening of the Mound, which leads to the new tramlines in Princes Street (and until recently also led to the cyclist squeeze-point at Hotel Missoni)?
  • The big drop in private cars was entirely on Lothian Road (northbound and southbound).  There was a slight rise on Forrest Road – though less than one might have expected given the reopening of the Mound.   Quite possibly some car traffic transferred from Lothian Road to the Mound, or we might have seen a more equal decline on both.
  • Despite the decline in private cars, the proportion of those which are single occupancy has risen, and at 75.7% is the highest in any of the 5 occasions when we have counted this.

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