Telraam is the perfect device to measure the impact of trial mobility measures. And that’s exactly what we did in Zandhoven, a medium-sized town in the Province of Antwerp (Belgium). In this post, I’ll report about the process we went through, the results that came out, and above all: what you as a mobility professional can learn from it.
About the project
Zandhoven is writing a new mobility plan together with its citizens. Mobiel 21, Telraam and SUUNTA are supporting Zandhoven to achieve a shared vision for the entire municipality with neighbourhood-level solutions.
At the start of the project, around 40 Telraam sensors were distributed. Afterwards, we unleashed a map-based survey on the residents to gather bottlenecks and initial ideas. Later, the Telraam data were analysed together with the counters in preparation for local neighbourhood chats. All of this led to a dozen trial set-ups earlier this year. All of them were evaluated and consolidated according to the results of Telraam and the citizens’ feedback. We are now in the final phase of finalising the mobility plan, after which citizens will be consulted again.
Striking results from the trail phase
The trial phase showed some interesting results we’d like to share with you.
1. Evaluation of cycling streets
The municipality installed a couple of cycling streets for the very first time: in the town centre and in school areas. Some of them were evaluated positively. Others were not. Telraam showed a minimal increase of cyclists in most streets, but also a noticeable reduction in car speed. When listening to the citizens, we discovered that a lot of them felt uncomfortable having car drivers just behind them. This might have to do with the low number of cyclists in general, and the need to increase sensibilisation and signalisation in these streets. The municipality decided to keep some of the cycling streets and remove others, but to maintain the 30 km/h regime.
2. Evaluation of a filter in a residential area
During a neighbourhood chat, residents expressed a wish to stop cut-through traffic in a particular residential street. A filter was installed in this street and one-way traffic was introduced in an adjacent street. Residents evaluated the filter very positively and as a cherry on the cake, Telraam identified an increase in cyclists from 18% to 32%, a small increase in walking and a good drop in cars. The municipality decided to make the filter permanent, to more closely monitor adjacent streets where car numbers increased, and to take additional measures if needed.
3. Evaluation of speed bumps
In two streets where speeding was detected, the municipality installed speed-reducing measures. Telraam identified a clear impact on the v85: the speeds reduced from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. One Telraam counter analysed the data more closely and nuanced the results:
“between 8-11am and 2-6pm there is a clear impact on the V85 in the Kruisdreef. Unfortunately, there is no impact before 8am and after 6pm, perhaps due to absence of oncoming traffic. The second variant of the trial set-up has hardly any impact.”
Due to these results the council decided to adjust the measures and prolong the test phase in these areas.
Lessons learned
- Co-decide with citizens which measures will be tested to ensure the quality and usefulness.
- Take enough time to really test the measures. 3 months is an absolute minimum. Changes in traffic conditions require an adjustment period, which can result in search behaviour and increased traffic in certain places.
- Make sure your Telraam sensors have been running long enough before the trial phase so you have good quality data to make a before and after comparison.
- Avoid the winter time to install a trial phase because the sensors might not be able to count in the dark and citizens are likely to stay inside or take the car more.
- Always complement Telraam data with feedback from citizens and go out and observe to get a complete picture of the impact.
- Communicate well in advance about the trial phase (especially around the area where measures will be installed) and be transparent about the goals your municipality wants to achieve. Communicate again right before the installation, during and at the end.
- Ensure that the trial measures are visible in the public space and, if possible, communicate directly in the street with visual elements about what the aim is.
- Use the Citizen Dialog Kit to visually evaluate and start conversations at the spot.
- Be aware that there may be opposition. Keep your ambitions in mind and use the Telraam data to objectify heated conversations.
- Be flexible to adjust measures and to install a new trial measures if needed, it’s a trial phase after all. Take your time, it will save you time in the long run!
Have you already worked with or experienced a mobility trial phase in your municipality? What instruments were used to measure the impact? And how did it go? Go ahead and share your insights or questions below!
