Evidenced-Based

Assessment of Cycle

Traffic in Glasgow

Presentation by Bob Downie

on behalf of GoBike!

bob@downie-geo.co.uk

Evidence-Based Assessment of

Cycle Traffic in Glasgow

• What datasets are available?

– Glasgow Cycling (GCC Cycling App, data not available to GoBike!)

• (100 – 500 installs on Android, iPhone installs unknown)

– Roadside surveys data.glasgow.gov.uk/

• City Centre Cordon (2009-2013)

– Strava Metro Data

• Available to GCC

• Available to GoBike!

• What do they tell us about preferred cycle routes?

• How can we use these data to inform future cycle facility placement?

Road Side Cycle Survey:

City Centre Cordon 2009-2013

• Conducted annually on 2 consecutive days over a 14 hour period

• Results show comparative number of riders. For example, in 2013 site 26 had roughly 20x the cycle traffic of site 9

Site 9

Site 26

Strava Metro- An Introduction

• Strava Metro is a global database of routes travelled by cyclists compiled by Strava.com

http://www.strava.com/

– To quote Strava themselves “Strava Metro is a data service providing “ground truth” on where people

ride and run.”

• It is compiled from a smartphone app that cyclists carry. By linking to GPS and other data

location services riders can track their rides, share their routes and gain other insights into

their cycling history

• Strava anonymise and aggregate these data to provide mapping and statistical data on cycle

usage which is the product they term Strava Metro

• Strava have made the 2014 data available to GoBike! and it is understood that GCC are in

receipt of both the 2013 and 2014 data

Who Uses Strava in Greater Glasgow Area?

2014 numbers

Male Count 9508 Female Count 1334

Male Count Under 25 558 Female Count Under 25 84

Male Count 25 - 34 1963 Female Count 25 - 34 349

Male Count 35 - 44 2677 Female Count 35 - 44 324

Male Count 45 - 54 1954 Female Count 45 - 54 174

Male Count 55 - 64 386 Female Count 55 - 64 32

Male Count 65 - 74 58 Female Count 65 - 74 1

Male Count 75 - 84 6 Female Count 75 - 84 0

Male Count 85 - 94 1 Female Count 85 - 94 0

Male Count No Bday 1902 Female Count No Bday 370

11,466 unique users in Greater Glasgow Men and women mostly in the age range 25-54 Male : Female ratio 7:1

Strava Metro Data Provision and Display

• Strava Metro data are provided to

users as a GIS file and linked

database

• The database assigns statistics on

cycle usage to sections of road and

includes both overall summaries and

breakdowns of usage by time of day

• Using the GIS file and the database it

is possible to make heat-maps where

the width of the coloured line varies in

proportion to the value investigated

(wider lines = higher usage)

Total Number of Strava Cycle Journeys in 2014

Morning Commute 06:00am-10:00am

Strava Data Can be Overlain on Other Maps

This shows that there is far more cycling on the “roads” than on cycle routes, though east-west routes along the river have high usage Some cycle routes (dark blue) have very low usage

Strava overlay on OpenCycle Map

Do Strava Data Truly Indicate Relative Road Usage?- YES!

y = 12.525x R² = 0.8312

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Stra

va T

AC

TCN

T 2

01

4

Surveyed number of cycle journeys in and out of city 2013

Strava TACTCNT= Total number of bike trips recorded in 2014 by Strava on the section of street regardless of direction of travel

Strong positive correlation shown by cross-plot of the 2013 Cordon Survey with Strava TACTCNT

Site 1

Site 1

Site 26

Site 26

Site 27

Site 27

Site 30

Site 30

Which Glasgow Roads Have the Highest Cycle Usage? (TACTCNT = Total number of bike trips recorded in 2014 by Strava on the section of street

regardless of direction of travel)

Broomielaw

Paisley Road West

Pollokshaws Road

Maryhill Road

London Road

TACTCNT >10,000 TACTCNT >8,000

TACTCNT >6,000 TACTCNT >4,000

Cumbernauld Road

Kirkintilloch Road

Shieldhall Road

Clarkston Road

Byres Road Queen

Margret Drive

At TACTCNT >3,000 the Preferred Radial Nature

of Cycle Travel Within Glasgow is Clear

These radial routes are the “desire lines”

Conclusions

• Strava Metro data, validated against the GCC Cordon Surveys, provide a numeric ranking of

the relative usage of roads and cycle routes by Glasgow cyclists

• Observations are manifold but include

– A few cycle facilities are well-used, but many are little used or under-used. Why?

– There is significant travel between Glasgow and the suburbs outside the city boundary

– The busiest routes for cycling in the city are by-and-large the main radial roads, with Pollokshaws

Road, Maryhill Road and Paisley Road West having the highest cycle usage. These radial routes are

the “desire lines” that people preferentially wish to use

• How can we use these data to inform future cycle facility placement?

– GoBike! Would like to see cycle facility placement in Glasgow guided by evidence from sources such

as Strava, roadside surveys and the Glasgow Cycling app

– GoBike! take the view that the radial “desire lines” should be prioritised for installation/improvement of

cycle facilities. Improvements on the busiest routes, Pollokshaws Road, Maryhill Road and Paisley

Road West, would encourage the greatest number of additional cyclists onto the roads

– Cyclist’s travel preferences should be taken into account before new cycle facilities are planned

(Strava shows that cyclists prefer to travel in direct routes to their destinations)