An increase in traffic - or not?

[Brandane]

Peeps, there's official stats out there: suggest you look em up, THEN start your argument!

98% of official stats are bollox. Fact.

 

[dodgy]

People see what they want to see. On Twitter i have the pleasure of following people who are extremely pro isolation and also negative. The pro isolationists appear to be seeing increased car use, but the data doesn't back it up.
https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobility/2020-04-26_GB_Mobility_Report_en.pdf

 

[dodgy]

Strange isn’t all these born again exercisers were clearly out for a drive or shopping pre lockdown. Just what we’re they doing with their time (now being used for exercise) before?

It's a really interesting thing. I am of the opinion a lot of these people woke up on Saturday mornings and just went into autopilot and drove to the 'mall' or other retail park and only wondered why they were there once they arrived. Hopefully now they will have seen an alternative, better lifestyle.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

For what it's worth, my perception is that traffic is well down on pre-crisis levels but it has never been as quiet as I thought it might be. I haven't seen the completely empty dual carriageways like others have posted photos of for example.

That may well simply be down to my locality. I'm just outside the edge of town on a road that many of the local shoppers use and the two busy roads that meet nearby are the main route between Dublin and continental Europe and a trunk road from South Wales to Liverpool/Manchester.

Away from those roads, motor traffic is definitely down but the numbers of walkers & cyclists is up.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

People see what they want to see. On Twitter i have the pleasure of following people who are extremely pro isolation and also negative. The pro isolationists appear to be seeing increased car use, but the data doesn't back it up.
https://www.gstatic.com/covid19/mobility/2020-04-26_GB_Mobility_Report_en.pdf

If you actually look at that data from Google it tells you nothing about movement in the places we are cycling. It is measuring / reporting a very limited set of movements in specific locations from unknown sample size. It says nothing about people driving in the country lanes.

 

[dodgy]

If you actually look at that data from Google it tells you nothing about movement in the places we are cycling. Ias measuring a very limited set of movements in specific locations it says nothing about people driving in the country lanes.

Of course, but it does demonstrate there's not a lot of difference between this week and 3 weeks ago.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Of course, but it does demonstrate there's not a lot of difference between this week and 3 weeks ago.

For retail parks, transport hubs but you’d expect that. Doesn’t mean there has not been an increase elsewhere. The google data only tell you so much and certainly not about what been happening round here outside if town.

 

[dodgy]

For retail parks, transport hubs but you’d expect that. Doesn’t mean there has not been an increase elsewhere. The google data only tell you so much and certainly not about what been happening round here outside if town.

At least it's data and not just someone's unconscious bias.

 

[HLaB]

I live in a town ,l am seeing much heavier traffic around town but once out on the open road still very light I am enjoying using bits o road I would normally avoid.

Tempted to go out after dark when it really is noticeable how silent it is. I have taken to looking out the upstairs window for a while at night just to enjoy the peace and quiet.

That's when its noisiest round here with neds/chavs racing on the Parkway just outside the police station

 

[classic33]

Two normally busy "A" roads, where they meet at a roundabout, wouldn't have needed traffic lights two weeks ago. Even at rush hour. One has daily tailbacks of three miles or more, on a normal day, you could measure it yards two weeks ago.

This last week has seen an increase in private vehicle use. On main and side roads(presumably they feel there's last chance of being stopped on the side roads).

 

[dodgy]

But if there's an increase in car use, where are they going? Not seeing an increase around here, anyway.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

At least it's data and not just someone's unconscious bias.

Don’t think you meant unconscious! Plus please explain where the bias is coming from? I have no agenda to prove traffic has increased round here. Are you saying we can’t recognise when it has increased based on at least 80 hours worth of data spread across 40 days?

 

[pawl]

If there has been a increase in traffic it wouldn’t surprise me.Drive through McDonalds B&Q Home Base plus many others of this type I read on one of the news channels that police we’re stopping traffic queuing on approach roads

 

[Smokin Joe]

Since Easter traffic levels have crept up around here, but they are still well down on the norm.

 

[dodgy]

Don’t think you meant unconscious!"

I did.

Plus please explain where the bias is coming from? I have no agenda to prove traffic has increased round here. Are you saying we can’t recognise when it has increased based on at least 80 hours worth of data spread across 40 days?

Calm down. I'm talking about people in general, again - people see what they want to see. In the same way that people are convinced that BMWs have non functioning indicators, they look for it.

Traffic the same broadly around here, the data backs it up. You can also look on Google Maps using the 'traffic' overlay and compare it with 'typical' conditions, from that you can see we're way down from normal. I'll take data over opinions any time.

Cheers.