Eleven Thousand Vehicles a Day
Frances Jannaway
A traffic survey was carried out between 7 am and 7 pm on Monday 8
November 2004. The purpose of the survey was to record the volume and
type of vehicles going north and south along Horndean Road (B2148) and
New Brighton Road (B2147).
A small team of 11 residents carried out the survey from cars parked
outside the Catholic Church on New Brighton Road. Six groups (2 people
in each group) recorded the volume and type of vehicle for two-hour
sessions over a 12-hour period, starting at 7 am and ending at 7 pm.
One person in each group recorded northbound traffic and the other
recorded southbound traffic. The vehicles recorded were divided into
the following types: bicycles, motorbikes, cars, vans, lorries,
buses/coaches.
| total |
% |
north |
south |
| car |
9,114 |
84% |
4,525 |
4,589 |
| bike |
221 |
2% |
111 |
110 |
| motorbike |
71 |
0.7% |
35 |
36 |
| bus/coach |
93 |
1% |
47 |
46 |
| van |
1,208 |
11% |
591 |
617 |
| lorry |
139 |
1.3% |
72 |
67 |
| Total |
10,846 |
100% |
5,381 |
5,465 |
Number and types of vehicles travelling north and south (7 am – 7 pm)
The above table shows that during the 12-hour period, a total of 10,846
traffic movements were recorded, with 5,381 vehicles going north and
5,465 going south.
Cars accounted for 84% of all traffic movements, with vans at 11% and
bikes at 2%. The remaining 3% consisting of lorries, buses/coaches and
motorbikes. It was encouraging to see so many bicycles, especially
since it was raining on and off all day. The number of bicycles is
likely to be higher in better weather. This bicycle traffic needs to be
encouraged by improving existing cycle paths and building new ones. The
volume of commercial vehicles was quite high and accounts for 12.3% of
the total traffic volume.
The bar chart shows that the
highest
volumes of
northbound traffic were between 3 and 3.30 pm, due primarily to the
school run, and during the evening rush hour between 5 and 6 pm. This
works out at an average of more than 11 cars a minute or 1 car every 6
seconds. Whereas the highest volume of southbound traffic recorded was
in the morning between 7.30 and 9.30 am with the highest volume between
8.30 and 9 am, which is 13 cars a minute, or 1 car every 4.6 seconds.