Photomap

USER COUNT 29.9.23 and results: #197912.

USER COUNT 26.8.23 and results: #196921.

USER COUNT 28.7.23 and results: #196198.

USER COUNT 9.6.23 and results: #195020.

USER COUNT 19.4.23 Wednesday 17.01-17.31. Daylight, dry, very blustery. Schools back. Students back. Observations: No school children. Two Tier scooters – no cycles. Noticeable number of cycles with child seats – though no children on them.

COUNT RESULT: 172


USER COUNT 4.11.22 Friday 17.00-17.30. Dry, sharp, with a bright moon. A Babboe, a Tier e-scooter, some people with wheeled luggage - but seemingly heading to the station. Only one or two children/families. The clocks changed last Sunday and it seems the afterschool sport activities have stopped or been curtailed. The lack of pupils was noticeable. It is unnerving to watch the interactions at this point. Which is why I am here. I think the space at the bottom of the steeper ramp that is the start and end point for that access to/exit from Scarborough Bridge, and the route that passes it (to/from Railway Walk) linking the river and Bootham... is far, far, far too narrow for the amount of non motorised users (including 'York' cycles of these sizes: #187502, #179570). There are no sight lines. The incline is steep.

COUNT RESULT: 130


USER COUNT 16.9.22 Friday 17.00-17.30. Alternating overcast/sunny periods. Breezy. Chilly. The start of a Bank Holiday weekend announced only a week or so ago on the death of the Queen. It was like pre-covid... Busy on a Friday and with groups that had been missing from previous counts: pupils in PE kit returning to school, school children in uniform but likely heading home; people pulling wheeled luggage. There seemed to be a lot of 'That was close!' moments between people at the bottom of the slope or close it and people coming down it. There was a noticeable number of groups of threes; lots of cycle commuters; a number of families on cycles; perhaps just one or max two Tier hire scooter users - students are likely not back yet; a local cyclist escorting a lost visiting/touring cyclist: "I don't know the route numbers, but ahead is Bootham and I think that's on the 658", who returned alone five minutes later; and... my first sighting of a cargo cycle branded Groni (www.groni.co.uk/). Alas my count point does not let me see who is coming down the steeper of the two slopes from Scarborough Bridge so I only saw the rider briefly from the side and then the rear.

COUNT RESULT: 167


USER COUNT 15.7.22. Friday 17.00-17.30. Alternating overcast/sunny periods. T-shirt weather. Unis have finished. The private schools have finished. No more than 10 people with wheeled luggage. No children in uniforms. Or many children at all. (Compare the image here with that from today: #184777.)

COUNT RESULT: 139.


USER COUNT 9.6.22 Friday, 17.00-17.30. Overcast. The week after a half term with a four-day (Platinum Jubilee) weekend in it. No Tier (hire) scooters. No wheeled luggage.

COUNT RESULT: 189.


USER COUNT 13.5.22 Friday, 17.00-17.30. Students still around, schools open but compared with pre-covid there are hardly any pupils at this time. Blustery, overcast. Image taken of count 'square' today: #182580.

COUNT RESULT: 161.


USER COUNT 25.3.22 Friday, 17.05-17.35. Quieter here and in town. The students left last weekend for Easter and the sun has come out. Have the private schools closed for Easter? It was noticeable there were no pupils heading for the station.

COUNT RESULT: 164. Two skateboards, one of those small wheels you stand astride and the luggage transporting cargo cycle: #179570. NB The hoardings in the image were removed in February 2022.


USER COUNT 11.10.21. (A Monday as this was the only day I was free at this time.) Daylight, overcast at outside. Weather noticeably less summery/benign.17.04-17.33.

COUNT RESULT: 177.

USER COUNT 17.9.21 Delayed due to the diversion for works related to the EV bays. 17.00-17.30. T shirt-weather warm. Schools open. People feeling free-er and using public transport including for commuting. A good mix of ages and modes including a skateboarder and a wheelchair user.

COUNT RESULT: 167 people passed over the space at the bottom of this image.

USER COUNT 5.8.21 Schools had already broken up for summer holidays. England had moved to Step 4 www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do including "whilst Government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can, Government would expect and recommend a gradual return over the summer". There was no access to/from the riverside here due to temporary closure for floodworks. Rain was forecast and it was already drizzling at 17.00. Very heavy rain from 17.15 for 10 minutes.

COUNT RESULT: In 30 minutes 129 people passed over the space at the bottom of the steeper slope.


USER COUNT 8.7.21: Note we were still in Stage three of the UK government's roadmap.

COUNT RESULT: 143 people passed over the space. There were noticeably far fewer pupils/children this time. [Note added 4.8.21: The low pupil count can be at least partly explained by the count being done on the penultimate day of the summer term of St Peter's School, Bootham. It may have been the case for the other school on Bootham too.] Hot. Sunny. NOTE added 8.6.21: Near the cycle-ped-wheelchair path to check on this: #169953 I decided to do a user count. Unlike when this image was taken the weather was warm and sunny.


USER COUNT 8.6.21: Note we were in Stage three of the UK government's roadmap "You should continue to work from home if you can" so there were likely far far fewer commuters than pre-covid. Plus although indoor attractions (eg the National Railway Museum) etc were open it was timed slots only. Such restrictions likely reduce the number of people using the railway bridge. Between 17.00 and 17.30 I stood just beyond where the yellow sign (no longer in situ) is in the image. I counted all the people coming from the direction of behind the camera and using the slope the bottom of which is shown on the right in the image, and all the people who descended that slope and turned towards the position of the camera. This was: a) all the people accessing Scarborough Bridge via the path between the car park and the York-Scarborough rail line, or b) coming from the Bridge and heading for that motor traffic-free link. As is visible in the image, the slope has the round sign with a white bicycle symbol on a blue background. Despite that sign, the steep incline, very limited sightlines, reduced turning circle and restricted visibility splay ALL the people coming along the path (including people with pushchairs, all the pedestrians, all the scooter users) and all but six cyclists reaching this side of the river using the Bridge and heading for the path, used that slope.

COUNT RESULT: In 30 minutes 149 people used the steep slope and six cyclists used the shallower slope. All arriving at/departing the square at base of that slope. Measurements: width of slope 279cm plus 20cm-wide pole in centre: #169292; width of path 3m (see: #169286, #169284); space for turning: #169290. I continue to be concerned about the space being oversubscribed in view of its limitations.
LIGHTING: I am also concerned about the level of light here now the hoardings plus 'a watchtower' have gone up. Since this image was taken lighting has been installed: solar 'spotlights': #169879 and 'fairy lights': #169655. However, it is gloomy even now - the lightest days of the year. And difficult to see in to the space. In cloudy and rainy weather even at this time of the year it feels dark. Later in the year it will be like that all the time and worse in bad weather. Pedestrians don't wear head torches and cycles don't have inbuilt illumination that comes on when light levels fall. There will be months when it will be dark enough here for lights to be needed on cycles but people won't have them to hand as the rest of their journey will be in daylight.

[Image taken 21.5.21] Marygate carpark, York. On the hoardings on the left is an explanation for their presence (see: #169468). But who will see it? And stopping to read it, with- without companions/a pushchair/luggage/a cycle will increase the pressure on the space at this junction. See also: #169467 and links.