Collecting robust pedestrian footfall data in your town
Stephen Bennett
The Towns Fund Monitoring and Evaluation Guidance states that towns are recommended to report on “the year on year monthly percentage change in footfall”.
For Town Deal places, while contracting a footfall provider is not a condition, it is strongly recommended that you collect footfall data if your interventions are occurring in or around the high street or town centre, or if your intervention is aiming to bring more people to an area.
For Future High Streets Fund places, it is a requirement you contract with a footfall provider for the collection of this data within your relevant area of interest.
So how do you collect this data robustly and cost-effectively?
Unfortunately, there are no good open-source data feeds widely available that towns can use. Some towns have automatic footfall counters in place already, which pick up wifi signals from smart phone users. For others, our recommended approach is to source and hire a reputable survey provider and agree a sensible methodology for simple and repeatable footfall surveys that will meet the requirement.
We are not aware of any prescribed guidance on footfall surveys specifically, but Transport for London’s Pedestrian Comfort Guidance for London has some useful points to consider, which are relevant outside of London (see page 37 in particular):
Sampling: To get ‘monthly’ footfall, you will need a sample of representative days throughout the month. TfL recommends a Saturday and one weekday (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday). If there is late night shopping (usually Thursday), the survey hours should be extended to capture this. You just may need to be aware of any variation throughout the month which means additional weeks should be surveyed.
Survey periods: TfL recommends survey hours of 0700 to 1900 (with breaks at 1030 to 1130 and 1430 to 1530 if needed), although it also says a minimum survey of the peak pedestrian hours should be 1400 to 1800 – this may be determined by cost or if you have any existing data on footfall profile that justifies specific hours.
Survey scope: Surveys should cover bi-directional flows, as people visit multiple destinations in High Streets.
Sample duration: Recommended sample duration is 5 minutes every half an hour on footways and 5 samples every half an hour on crossings.
Schools: If there is a school in the immediate area, the site should be surveyed during the school term. Longer sample periods are required at the start and end of the school day (30 minute sample).
Weather: Flows are likely to be affected by poor weather. If weather is poor there may be a need to repeat the survey.
Good survey firms should know all of this, so they are probably best placed to advise on the local conditions and requirements. But it’s important that you are clear on the scope when commissioning any work.
It’s not essential that all towns use exactly the same methodology, as every place has different characteristics. The main thing is that the surveys are undertaken consistently within each town, so they are comparable to report the year-on-year monthly percentage change requirement.
And you may also consider whether you wish to record any other information while undertaking the surveys, for example transport mode split. This information can be an incredibly useful resource where you are proposing schemes such as public realm improvements, pedestrianisation, or better walking and cycling links, as it can be used as evidence when developing the business cases, demonstrating success of the interventions, or for wider monitoring of your town’s performance against government active travel or decarbonisation targets.
If you have any further queries or would like any support from the Towns Fund Delivery Partner team, then please get in touch through your Town Coordinator or ask for a “Transport & Connectivity” expert through our Expert Drop-in Sessions.