Over the past few years, the way in which London’s streets are used has changed drastically. Many Local Authorities and organisations have realised the importance of creating streets where people and their health are prioritised. However, evidence has become critical to enable effective, environmentally healthy and sustainable streetscape and public realm planning.

The need for concise data and evidence has become clear to understand how streets are used, and by who and when. Similarly, data analysis provided through monitoring programmes can be used to highlight benefits, such as air quality or footfall improvements, and provide the proof of concept to enable a long-term and sustainable transition to permanent change.

CRP have partnered with Vivacity Labs to use their state-of-the-art sensors to provide a monitoring and data analysis service which provides an insight into:

• Active travel and traffic count analysis (e.g. pedestrians, cyclists, motorbikes, cars, vans, HGVs and buses)
• Granular level event analysis
• Movement/road use behaviour analysis
• Speed reporting
• Turning count analysis
• Air quality analysis

The artificial intelligence sensors collect traffic count data that CRP then analyses to provide clear, concise and insightful reporting. CRP explores the trends, changes and patterns that emerge from the data, through an accessible, visual and easy-to-read report. This is critical to ensure that local authorities, BIDs and any other land managers can make informed decisions and carry out appropriate changes to meet the needs of the users of their spaces.

CRP is currently working with South Bank BID on a two-year monitoring project to inform schemes throughout the BID area. CRP provide quarterly reports associated with nine sensors across the BID. These reports include insights on:

• Daily count data including pedestrian, cyclist and motorised vehicle counts
• Hourly average analysis to understand counts trends throughout an average week and weekend day
• Nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter and carbon dioxide emissions estimations, using our in-house emissions calculator
• Social distancing trends to understand how busy and crowded certain spaces are

The 24-hour and real-time monitoring provides the BID with an in-depth look at how spaces across the Southbank are used throughout the day or week, and the impact of differing levels of restrictions, weather and local and national events.