HIGH STREET & ROYAL AVENUE TRAFFIC SURVEY

Transcription

1 HIGH STREET & ROYAL AVENUE TRAFFIC SURVEY On Behalf of Belfast City Centre Management 27 th March

2 High Street & Royal Avenue Traffic Report Cover Image Courtesy of David Lloyd AECOM Design & Planning BCCM SR No. 63 Peter Moore* *c/o Belfast City Centre Management 2 nd Floor Sinclair House Royal Avenue Belfast BT1 1FE 1

3 Contents 1. Introduction Figure One: Map of monitoring points 2. Results Figure Two: High Street vehicle usage percentages Figure Three: Royal Avenue vehicle usage percentages Figure Four: Overall data trends in traffic numbers Figure Five: Illegal traffic usage at High Street Figure Six: Illegal traffic usage at Royal Avenue 3. Comparison with previous surveys Figure Seven: High Street Dec 2010 March 2012 Comparison Figure Eight: Royal Avenue Dec 2010 March 2012 Comparison Page 3 Page 3 Pages 4 7 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 6 Page 7 Pages 7 9 Page 8 Page 9 4. Conclusion Page 10 Appendix One: Copy of the PSNI survey Page 11 2

4 1. Introduction 1.1 Vehicular access into Belfast city centre is restricted and unauthorised vehicles are not permitted to enter the restricted zone[s] between the hours of 11.00am and 6.00pm. Buses are the only vehicles permitted to use Royal Avenue. However, many unauthorised vehicles violate this restriction, causing congestion and obstruction for authorised vehicles, pedestrians and public transport services. As part of the ongoing monitoring of traffic flow patterns through Belfast city centre, a traffic survey was undertaken by the PSNI City Centre Beat (CCB) officers and BCCM Business Liaison Officers on Tuesday 27th March 2012 (representing approximately 6 months from the last survey which took place in September 2011 BCCM SR No. 51). The data was collected between 11:00am 3:00pm at the two access points (High Street [entry point at the corner with Bridge Street] and Royal Avenue [entry point at junction with North Street] respectively), Figure One. Traffic flow was measured on High Street between 11:00am and 1:00pm and on Royal Avenue from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The first hour at each location was monitored by the uniformed PSNI officers. As the police have powers to stop vehicles, the CCB were able to question drivers as to their reason for being in the restricted zone. This information was recorded at both locations during the hour of the police monitoring only. 1.2 During the course of this survey, vehicles entering the restricted zone during the second hour at each location were counted only by the business liaison officers. This was a strategic monitoring decision to determine the difference that the presence of a uniformed PSNI officer (which could be deemed as a physical deterrent) would be against that of an inconspicuous business liaison officer. 1.3 As part of Phase I of the Streets Ahead Project the installation of rising bollards at key locations within Belfast city centre will help to enforce the traffic regulations between 11:00am 6:00pm. In partnership with Department for Social Development, BCCM will manage these installations and it is envisaged that these will be fully operational by the summer of Figure One: Map showing locations of checkpoints 3

5 2. Results 2.1 High Street During the 2 hour survey in High Street, all vehicular traffic was monitored; the results can be seen in Figure Two. Buses comprise 39% of the total traffic, which represents a 1% increase. There has been a rise in the car volume of 2% to 51%. There has been a reduction in both the light and heavy goods use, light goods has fallen by 2% to 9% and heavy goods by 1% to constitute 1% of the total traffic. It should be noted that this does not include traffic travelling out of the city and the cars that may have used Castle Street which, following the completion of the Streets Ahead Project, has been re-opened to two-way traffic. Figure Two: Percentage figures for High Street traffic use Previous surveys had found that the second hour saw an increase in traffic flow (thought to be due to the lack of uniformed officers during this monitoring period). However, the figures were comparable for both hour periods. 2.2 During the first hour of monitoring by the CCB (11.00am 12.00pm) it was established that a total of 30 vehicles used the High Street entry point illegally, representing 17.9% of the total traffic flow during this hour (a decrease of 2.5% on the September 2011 survey). 2.3 Royal Avenue The majority of traffic (85%) using Royal Avenue comprised buses which constitutes the same percentage as recorded in September 2011 (Figure Three). There has been a reduction in the percentage of cars using the street from 12% to 11%. However, buses are the only vehicles legally able to use the street. Light goods vehicles saw no change comprising 3% of the total traffic usage. 4

6 Figure Three: Percentage figures for Royal Avenue traffic use As was noted when examining the High Street figures; there was no significant statistical rise in the number of vehicles (legal or illegal) accessing Royal Avenue during the inconspicuous Business Liaison Officer monitoring period representing a change from previous surveys. 2.4 During the first hour of monitoring by the CCB (1:00pm 2.00pm) it was established that a total of 10 vehicles used the Royal Avenue entry point illegally, representing 7.2% of the total traffic flow during this hour (a decrease of 7.8% on the September 2011 survey). 2.5 March 2012 Comparative Results If one examines the total combined traffic figures (Table One), High Street accounted for 54.5% of the traffic recorded, and Royal Avenue 45.5%. The overall trend has been for a continued reduction in overall traffic numbers since the statistical high point of June 2011 (Figure Four). Street / Vehicle Car Bus Light Goods Heavy Goods Motorbike Total High Street Royal Avenue Total[s] Table One: Overall traffic numbers for High Street and Royal Avenue 5

7 2.6 Illegal Usage Figure Four: Overall traffic trends September 2010 March 2012 Date of Survey Overall (Total) Vehicle Numbers Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Mar The number of vehicles using High Street illegally was also recorded by the CCB officers during the first hour only (Figure Five). On High Street between 11:00am and 12:00pm, a total number of 42 cars were recorded, 17 of which (40.4%) were illegal; an increase of 16.1% Of 9 LGV s, 5 (55.5%) were illegal representing an increase of 43%. Overall, during the hour long CCB monitoring period, 26.8% of the High Street Traffic was illegal. This represents an increase of 12.7% on the September 2011 figures. 6

8 Figure Five: Illegal usage recorded by the CCB at High Street 2.7 The numbers of vehicles using Royal Avenue illegally was also recorded by the CCB officers (Figure Six). On Royal Avenue between 1:00pm and 2:00pm a total number of 7 cars were recorded, 6 of which (85.7%) were illegal; a reduction of 14.3%. All three LGV s recorded were using Royal Avenue illegally, as was the single motorcyclist. It was noted that a number of drivers (from the Republic of Ireland) stated that their Sat-Nav system had directed them into the restricted zone. BCCM previously wrote to Sat Nav companies to request that the restricted zone of Belfast city centre is included in their software. Figure Six: Illegal usage recorded by CCB at Royal Avenue 7

9 3. Comparisons with previous surveys 3.1 By comparing the overall data with that collected over the course of previous surveys, comparative analysis can be made for the traffic patterns from both High Street and Royal Avenue. For High Street, one can see that the overall numbers of vehicles are at their lowest point (for all vehicle types) since December 2010 (Figure Seven). Although one must still note that the illegal usage percentage and numbers have increased since the last survey (see section 2.6). 3.2 If one takes the same comparative timeframe for Royal Avenue, it is also clear that, in generic terms, the overall number of vehicles using the street has decreased. This is in line with overall traffic trends noted in section 2.5: Figure Four). Figure Seven: High Street comparative results December 2010 March 2012 Date / Vehicle Type Car Bus Light Goods Heavy Goods Motorcycle Dec Mar Jun Sep Mar

10 Figure Eight: Royal Avenue comparative results December 2010 March 2012 Date / Vehicle Type Car Buses Light Goods Heavy Goods Motorcycle Dec Mar Jun Sep Mar

11 4. Conclusions 4.1 On vehicle volume alone, there has been a reduction in numbers of vehicles using High Street and Royal Avenue. However, on High Street there has been an increase in the number of vehicles using the street illegally. There has been a reduction on the number of vehicles using Royal Avenue illegally (as recorded during the first hour of the survey at each location by the City Centre Beat officers). 4.2 Work still needs to be undertaken to inform and make drivers aware that Royal Avenue is illegal for all traffic with the exception of buses. 4.3 BCCM will contact the Sat-Nav companies again to reiterate that their software is directing drivers into the restricted zone of Belfast city centre and that warning messages should be incorporated into the software. 4.3 The activation of the rising bollard traffic control system (scheduled for the summer of 2012), will not have a direct bearing on the High Street and Royal Avenue traffic. However, it has been stated that the implementation of such a bollard system in Royal Avenue is not feasible given the frequency of public transport traffic. 10

12 Appendix One BELFAST CITY CENTRE PSNI TRAFFIC SURVEY Tue 27 th March 2012 TYPE OF VEHICLE: CAR BUS LIGHT GOODS HEAVY GOODS M CYCLE REASON FOR ENTERING: Bank Blue Badge Drop off or Lost Park Permit Short cut Work Other Pick up ENTRY:- LEGAL ILLEGAL Is driver aware of N/A YES NO Committing an offence? TYPE OF VEHICLE: CAR BUS LIGHT GOODS HEAVY GOODS M CYCLE REASON FOR ENTERING: Bank Blue Badge Drop off or Lost Park Permit Short cut Work Other Pick up ENTRY:- LEGAL ILLEGAL Is driver aware of N/A YES NO Committing an offence? TYPE OF VEHICLE: CAR BUS LIGHT GOODS HEAVY GOODS M CYCLE REASON FOR ENTERING: Bank Blue Badge Drop off or Lost Park Permit Short cut Work Other Pick up ENTRY:- LEGAL ILLEGAL Is driver aware of N/A YES NO Committing an offence? 11