83% satisfaction with cycleways and pedestrian facilities

[rolandp]

Annual Report for Main Roads come out this month and scored a 83% Community satisfaction with cycleways and pedestrian facilities - source Main Roads 2012/13 Annual Report.

Did anyone on this forum get contacted on their view of their Community Satisfaction?

Please complete the pole to get a view on what this forums satisfaction levels are to cycleways.

[CycleSnail]

That poll must have been restricted to MainRoadWA employees ....

[GingaNinja]

The poll clearly shows that the Target was not met, yet they ticked it to indicate their goals were met?????????
seams to me that if they didn't meet their target then their goals weren't met?

[wellington_street]

^

Brilliant.

[nickobec]

Well I am 83% satisfied with the cycleways I use.

That is the 83% that runs from Kwinana to Bullcreek

The 17% that runs from Bullcreek to the CBD I am disatisifed with.

And no Main Roads did not ask me

[CXCommuter]

I am satisfied by comparison (with Sydney) which is far worse for cycling infrastructure (generally doesn't exist where cyclists want to cycle. I ticked no because it appears that not much has been completed (NOR PSP in particular). What is needed is the PSP's turned into proper segregated cycleways.

[Aushiker]

That poll must have been restricted to MainRoadWA employees ....

That is my thinking as well. I am on MRD mailing lists yet never heard anything.

Andrew

[rolandp]

After complaining to MainRoads about lack of progress on this one Look Mum - I'm flying, I was provided a link to MainRoads Customer Service Charter.

Satisfaction with Cycling and Pedestrian Facilities are measured by the Community Perception Survey. So question again, has anyone completed a Community Perception Survey?

The above page also provides results for Customer Charter Index 1st Quarter where Community Satisfaction with Cycling and Pedestrian Facilities for Jul-Sep 2013 sits at 83%.

This is exactly the same figure as the 2012/13 Annual Report - so zero improvement there, and still doesn't explain how this figure is made up.

[CycleSnail]

Thanks, Roland, that is really curious ...

[eldavo]

After doing the same route CBD to Warwick PSP daily for the past few years, I got a fresh perspective by riding CBD to Fremantle with familiarity of the route from the past with car/motorcycle/bicycle. I read up the DoT maps, did a fly through with street view, used google maps cycle option to compare. I followed a couple of riders over the journey going the same way to smooth out the connections. It was fine, sunny, tail wind, everything going my way.

It worked, I got there. To say it was second class infrastructure for a major inter-city route is being kind. It was terrible.

I didn't have much opinion on it doing my same old route as I've become accustomed to the hazards, know when to stand over the bad sections by habit etc. I read someone ride this CBD-Warwick section call it worse than a dog track, and I didn't really get it... but now I see.

I rode the Fremantle to Hillarys PSP route after the CBD to Fremantle route, at sunset and finishing after dark, I haven't ridden this route for a couple years, it's not perfect but it was by its nature simpler and better infrastructure than the CBD to Fremantle route that is terrible.

With a major rail line running Perth to Fremantle, it's a shame it's radically far from connected and consistent and good condition. If this is what passes for the electorate of the Premier, I feel for the eastern suburbs cyclists. I guess it's time to move east

[wellington_street]

The eastern PSP is actually really good and will be even better once the extension to Midland goes in next(?) year.

[eldavo]

I do have to go to Mundaring in a fortnight... I'll check it out. Corrected the original

[ikm]

Be careful. You will hate the northern path even more after you realise how nice the eastern one is.

[rolandp]

I received an email today from Main Roads, to complete a customer insight survey.

I hope they take on board my comments. I am not in the 83% satisfaction bracket.

[cherrycam]

It could just be that the satisfaction survey is a different survey to the insight survey!

[rolandp]

MainRoads recently released their Annual Community Perceptions Survey. One of the statistics is:
76% rate cycleways and pedestrian facilities as okay, good or excellent, down 9% points.

If we compare the quarterly customer service charter, which has remained the same at 85% for this year, for cycling and pedestrian facilities.

Hopefully the annual survey results in a different focus at MainRoads as the report also indicates at no one priority:
Cycle links to major centres
Followed by no 2
Managing traffic congestion

Have a read of the report.

[ColinOldnCranky]

Can I suggest, to feed the justifiable cynic in all of us, that we add to survey buttons here a yes/no for having been given the opportunity of participating in the survey with a interval of, I guess, the business y ear of the annual report.

I'm interested to hear any details of the survey process if anyone unearths it. The when, what, how of it. As it seems from here that actual interested cyclists (ie BNA) were not included.

Heinrich? Jeremey?

[ColinOldnCranky]

According to the annual report the measure comes out of the "Community Perception Survey". I am fairly certain that I have completed one or more of this name in the last few years. I assume that they have a question specifically asking if the respondent is satisfied.

From https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/AboutMa ... rveys.aspx

Q4. Over the past twelve months, have you CYCLED along or across WA’s freeways, highways or other main roads (this includes bike lanes and paths)?
Q5. And, over the past twelve months, have you WALKED along or across WA’s freeways, highways or other main roads?
Q6 Thinking about all of the roads and facilities controlled by Main Roads, how would you rate overall performance? Please give a rating out of 10, where 10 is
excellent and 0 is extremely poor.

They seem, at question 6, to lump all users into the one satisfaction question. I wonder if they then take the satisfaction of anyone who answered Yes to Q 4 or q 5 and assume that that satisfaction level is applicable only to walking or cycling. In fact it would include the levels for motoring too, which may be far higher than that of walking and cycling facilities and certainly would not be the same.

[Thoglette]

Have a read of the report.

I did, wrote a detailed reviwe and promptly deleted it. So you get the short version.

1. Every single Perth metro cycling statistic was heading in the wrong direction.
2. "Same" was lumped with "better", significantly misleading the reader in pages on stress and safety
3. There is no analysis - while the survey measured "sentiment", these sentiments were marked as "key priorities". Ergo the reader might believe that the consultant was recommending (as best practice) building more freeways.

eg "I think widening of the Kwinana Freeway in Perth is a must since it will decrease the traffic congestion." (Emphasis mine)

The terms of reference probably didn't help - being purchased by the MRD who couch everything (not suprisingly) in terms of roads (see p 176 - no trains)

For a laugh, read the comments section. These are genuine comments.
"My dad has a large car - a Ford F150 - and he finds it difficult to travel on roads with only two lanes."
"South Street there's lots of cyclists and buses in the morning that puts the traffic out of wack, too much congestion with all of them."
"The lights at Scarborough Beach Road and Leigh Street, it’s impossible to get through when you are driving because the pedestrians are always pushing the button to cross...."

On a positive note, read from p244 on. A good third of the comments are pro-cyclist, pro-pedestrian and/or pro-public transport. About equal to the "more lanes" comments.

[CycleSnail]

Ah, Thoglette, can you get the energy up to re-do the detailed review? Sounds like something that needs to be done.....

[rolandp]

And then you can check out 2014 MainRoads Annual Report where for '% Community satisfaction with cycleways and pedestrian facilities' had an annual target of 90% with a 2014 Actual of 85% which is then indicated as 'We are achieving our goals'.

I did question MainRoads this year how getting a lower actual score to the target is 'achieving our goals' with response back that it is up to the manager of the area to determine if the individual goal was reached.

At the same time I questioned why cyclists were counted with pedestrian facilities, given that they can be 'different facilities' with response back that they are looking at how to break this out in the future.

I wish WA cycling groups were being more proactive at using this type of data and using it for leverage for better cycling facilities.