“Also you haven't said if you are referring to ATC site 17 towards the west of S Parade or ATC site 18 towards the east.” The data is taken from the TFL Outer London Cycle Counts, location OUTCY114. It is to west of South Parade, with the junction of St Albans Avenue I think, but I’m not sure. It is not a count for Fishers Lane, but it is close enough to be relevant. “RC: I really cannot figure our what point you're trying to make. Is ut that cycle couriers somehow aren't "real" cyclists? Or that they're not "local"? Or do you consider that if they weren't cycling around, they'd be delivering on foot, rather than by moped, car or van etc? You can argue against the closure of FL as you wish. But when those who defend the closure do so on the basis that it encourages cyclists, it is disingenuous, if not fatuous, to try to refute this by blithely disregarding all those cyclists who are also couriers. (Btw, I say "all those" - do you have any evidence as to how many are actually couriers, and what percentage they make of the undeniable increase of all cyclists now using FL.)” I never claimed to have any evidence that the 36-37 extra cyclists were all couriers, but businesses and cycle couriers have been beaten with a different stick to the rest of us for the last two years. If I were trying to promote cycling I would be concerned that the daytime counts are going down. The increase in cycle couriers is likely to have happened without any changes. The repeated claim has been that these changes will promote cycling, but the stats do not appear to support that claim. Why did you think I was arguing against the closure of Fishers Lane? I was trying to point out the stick we have all been beaten with hasn’t worked and maybe they should rethink about how they are trying to promote cycling. If it turns out that all the costs of the changes are just a subsidy for business, I would imagine most people would have preferred the money to have been spent on lifts for tube stations. It would probably have created more active travel than the cycle lane has and wouldn’t have divided everything in half. “I don't see how you can say the undoubted increase is all down to couriers. You've picked an odd time, and particular years to reach a conclusion that's not consistent.” Are you trying to suggest I’ve manipulated the data? I’ve used the data for the last three years, 2022 data is not available yet. The data is recorded in 15 minute segments and I’ve used 8am to 9am as that would be the time people are cycling to school or work. 10am to 3.30 pm would mainly be leisure cyclists rather than commuters or deliveries. 3.30 pm to 7pm could be cyclists returning from school or work, but as there is no increase in cycling in the morning that would be unlikely. TFL list 7am to 10am as AM Peak, 10am to 4pm as Inter-peak, 4pm to 7pm as PM Peak and 7pm to 10pm as Evening. If you pick a 15 minute segment or a three hour one it doesn’t hide the fact that from 6am to 3.30 pm, between 2019 and 2021 the count only increased by 2 (244 in 2019, 247 in 2020 and 246 in 2021) and from 3.30pm to 10pm it increased from 130 to 288, an increase of 158. With such huge spikes and discrepancies during that day compared to previous years it would probably be a good idea to consider what external events caused this, rather than picking a different time segment and ignoring the fact there is almost no change for most of the day.
Colin Potter ● 1445d