Bicycles to be monitored by roadside scanner

Digital signs that scan cycle paths and display a tally of passing cyclists have been installed by Brighton & Hove City Council. The counter displays also keep track of how many cyclists have passed by since the beginning of the year.

Brighton will use the data to monitor cycling levels and hopes the counters will more people to take to their bikes.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “One of the most powerful incentives to start cycling is the sense that other people are doing it – the counters are a very public way of showing how many people are enjoying the financial and health benefits this summer.”

How many people cycle in Britain?

The last national survey of households suggested that 5 million people cycle at least once a week, but getting an accurate assessment of cycling levels is notoriously difficult and certainly much harder than monitoring motorised vehicles. Anomalies such as the omission by the Department for Transport of cycling trips made by people making their way to railway stations as part of a longer journey paint an unnecessarily bleak picture of cycling levels.

Over 300 automatic cycle counters are already used on the National Cycle Network to collect continuous streams of data on the levels of cyclists. Data from the counters is used to monitor changes in levels of cycling, but no such system exists to count cycling on British roads.

The cycle counter display units in Brighton can be found on the east side of A23 London Road and the east side of A270 Lewes Road.

How does your cycle insurance match up?

Cycle insurance from the ETA includes, amongst other things, new-for-old, third party insurance cover, personal accident cover, race event cover and if you suffer a mechanical breakdown, they will come out and recover you and your bike. Get an instant, no obligation quote below.

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