Ireland-Fingal county: Data collection in "School Streets/Quiet Streets"

Challenge

How to effectively collect data and evaluate the impact of "School Streets/Quiet Streets" in Fingal County to improve road safety, promote active travel, and enhance liveability?

Context

Significant work is being carried out to promote active travel in Fingal County. However, there is currently no data on the number of bicycle and pedestrian journeys made in the County. Additionally, there is no data on air quality before and after the deployment of infrastructure/interventions for active mobility.

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of serious injuries and fatalities due to road collisions. To address this, the County is planning to implement School Streets/Quiet Streets in some areas. This approach allows residents and business owner to access residential/local streets but restricts other traffic, creating safer, cleaner, and more active travel friendly streets.

The goal is to implement School Streets/Quiet Streets in Fingal that will:

• Improve access to and connectivity between different areas
• Encourage people to walk and use bike share more
• Promote sustainable transportation
• Reduce air and noise pollution

Create a safer street environment, improving safety for the most vulnerable road users (children, older adults, people with visual/mobility impairment, people with disabilities, people walking, wheeling and cycling)

In other words, to assess the impact of School Streets/Quiet Streets, Fingal County Council is interested to collect the data on:

Traffic volume, patterns, movements, speed, , illegal or hazardous parking and driving behaviour around the School Street/Quiet Street before, during and after the intervention

Modal share data: Road user (data before, during, and after the intervention; The number of people using active travel modes e.g., walking, cycling, wheeling, scooting before, during, and after the intervention

Air quality and noise pollution;

Additionally, to understand how people interact with public spaces, the County seeks data on usage patterns, time spent on streets, and movement dynamics, particularly focusing on potential behavioural changes due to the intervention.

The first School Streets/Quiet Streets is expected to be implemented in August/September 2024 after a selection from nominations provided by citizens.

The expected solution

Fingal County envision acquiring high-quality data that unlocks insights into the street/area’s transformation, fostering informed decision-making for future projects and increasing active traveling in the County. In summary, the solution should empower the County to demonstrate that the School Streets/Quiet Streets implementation leads to:

• Reduced traffic volume
• Improved air quality
• Increased active travel (walking, bike share use, cycling, wheeling, scooting )
• Enhanced public space utilisation
• Minimal impact on wider areas i.e. no increase in traffic volume on surrounding street network

Published 4 March, 2024.