Analysing new cycle routes in London

Ahead of building new Cycle Superhighway, Quietway and Mini-Holland cycle routes in London, Transport for London (TfL) identified the need to collect baseline and post-scheme implementation data to monitor the impact of the routes.

As well as total numbers of cyclists using the routes, TfL sought to understand the impact of the routes on individuals’ attitudes and behaviours. They were particularly interested in a change in satisfaction, change in perceptions of safety and confidence, change in cycling levels and direct impacts on mode shift and route choice as a result of the new routes.

In 2014, Steer was appointed to conduct baseline surveys of “Mayor’s Vision” routes across London, and subsequent one-year and three-year after surveys on completion of the routes.

We developed a highly effective method for conducting the surveys, which involved stopping cyclists at convenient points along the routes and distributing postcards inviting them to take part via an online survey URL and unique access code. Year on year, this recruitment method achieves a high response rate in the region of 20%.

Comparative analysis of baseline and after survey results is conducted annually to quantify the impact of the routes on respondents’ behaviour and attitudes towards cycling, in relation to individual routes as well as more generally in London.

In addition to survey wave reports, we produced an online workbook for the client team to access and run their own independent analysis. This has enabled TfL to easily obtain route level results and respond to ad-hoc queries.

Successes & outcomes

The consistent approach we deployed to collecting survey data from cyclists before and after route implementation allowed us to successfully quantify the impact of new cycle routes in London.

In 2017, statistical analysis techniques were used to test hypotheses around the impact of the Cycle Superhighway routes. The impact of segregated and non-segregated Cycle Superhighways was considered separately to compare the performance of different interventions.

The results from this analysis are useful to TfL in making the case for further investment in cycling infrastructure across the capital.