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The Footdownᵀᴹ Index

(7 posts)
  • Started 8 years ago by kaputnik
  • Latest reply from kaputnik

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  1. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Riding to work the other day I had gone "Dutch" and ambled in along the NEPN, a long and slow detour but one that involves a lot less stop/starting at lights and junctions. In fact, one that involves almost no stop/starting at all once you get onto the NEPN.

    To try and find some way of expressing the difference between the tortoise (indirect but largely offroad) and hare (direct, onroad) options for cycling I invented in my head the Footdownᵀᴹ Index. Put it simply, how many times per unit distance are you forced by lights or junctions to stop and put your foot down.

    I counted on my way home and split the ride into 2 sections; the offroad and back streets section from South Gyle via. Pinkhill and Roseburn to the West End, and then West End to home (Meadowbank area) via Charlotte Square, George Street, St. Andrew Square, Waterloo Place, Regent Road and London Road.

    Section 1 is 4.4 miles and I put my foot down all of 3 times, Footdown Index (FI) = 0.68. Section 2 is 2.7 miles and required 13 footdowns, FI = 4.8.

    So, you have to stop and put your foot down 7 times more frequently in city centre roads designed around high volumes of cars than you do on paths/backstreets where the vehicular volume is low.

    Feel free to calculate your own FIs.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  2. wingpig
    Member

    It would be a useful thing for open-source maps to include on the road ratings, so that instead of selecting quite/balanced/fastest/shortest you could select by the bothersomeness-level.

    How many points are subtracted from people who feel the need to point out that they never actually have to put their feet down because actually they can actually trackstand?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  3. amir
    Member

    Good idea. Some NCN routes are thwarted by high degrees of awkwardness that may result in high index values (e.g. NCN 1 between the end of the Innocent (lots if you go over the footbridge) to Whitecraig

    Posted 8 years ago #

  4. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    I presume the footdown count is on 'potential' foot downs (so if you pass through a traffic light that's green, but it would count as a 'footdown' because it might have been red?

    And that footbridge that amir mentions, is that footdown per step?

    I like this idea. I'm going to calculate for the new Meadows to Innocent route tonight I think (4 footdowns from memory, so just need the distance).

    Posted 8 years ago #

  5. sallyhinch
    Member

    @Kaputnik, you have encapsulated exactly what makes the best off-road routes work. I have several routes around Dumfries that involve significant detours but no stops, and they're much faster than the direct route AND you can be cycling along thinking hello birds, hello trees instead of having to look out for every hazard.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  6. Greenroofer
    Member

    6 potential footdowns between home and the canal at Meggetland. 0 footdowns between there and where I leave it 4 miles later (although I'm not sure how to count the aqueduct). 3 from the canal to the office. To @sallyhinch's point, that's why I like the canal as a bike route (random dogs notwithstanding)

    Posted 8 years ago #

  7. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I counted only actual footdowns, not potentials i.e. a green light or rolling slowly over a give way line because it is clear.

    The first half of the journey I described has lots of potential footdowns, but because the streets are quiet you rarely need to make them, you can slow for most corners and junctions and get round without stopping and re-starting.

    It's not just junctions I was considering, it's people pulling out in front of you then realising it's going to take a 7 point turn to change direction as they intended, zebra crossings, traffic, bits of infrastructure that are so tight or convoluted as to be impossible to keep going.

    Of course the FI will change on any given route given the time of day, I could probably get too and from work at 3 in the morning without one single footdown being recorded.

    Posted 8 years ago #

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