Hanson, P. (HU) 44 PHH-E001 00 Eo N5 r- Type: IQP PROJECT #: IQP PHH-E001-3111.26-. Date: 7/00
ANALYSIS OF STUDENT CONGESTION AT THE WIMBLEDON CENTRE COURT SHOPPING CENTRE
An Interactive Qualifying Project Proposal
Submitted to:
The Faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Mr. Eddie Taylor, environmental education officer
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of Bachelor of Science
Teodoro Armenteros
Matthew Horvay
Juan Alejandro Troost
Konstantina Tsouroufli
Approved:
Professor Peter H. Hansen Abstract
On behalf of the Borough of Merton, our team offered recommendations for the resolution of the conflict created outside the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping
Centre between students and other pedestrians. The students, on their way home from school, gather outside the Wimbledon Town Centre to socialise while waiting for the public buses. These recommendations were developed based on the analysis of data gathered through observations in the area, student surveys and interviews of people related to the problem.
ii Executive Summary
Our project investigated problems in the London Borough of Merton associated with pedestrian congestion due to the transportation of teenagers on their way home from school. The area in front of the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping
Centre experiences pedestrian congestion during the period after local high schools close, especially at the bus stop in front of the shopping centre entrance. The congestion problem is caused by students from three different schools that come to the area and socialise while waiting for public transport buses to take them home. The influx of students, combined with shoppers and other people in the Wimbledon Town
Centre, leads to heavy pedestrian traffic in the area. The purpose of this project was to understand the problem, its causes, and make concise recommendations of possible solutions.
To accomplish this project, we reviewed background literature pertaining to physical design, urban planning, social interaction, and methods of public participation in urban planning. We also explored and researched case studies of similar occurrences of pedestrian congestion elsewhere. The study of these topics facilitated our understanding of the current conflicts in Wimbledon Centre, which led us in the recommendation of possible solutions.
To fully understand the problem and suggest ways in which it can be
diminished or solved, we utilised different research methods of data gathering. These
were both quantitative and qualitative, and included observational studies, surveys,
interviews and map representations. We surveyed students from the schools in the
area, to examine the origin and destination of their travel and to identify the reason
behind the crowding near the shopping centre. By observations, we were able to
locate the points of greatest congestion and determine how the layout of the shopping
iii centre and surrounding pavements contributes to the problem. We used map representations to illustrate the data gathered from the surveys and observations and visualise the area of the Borough of Merton. In addition, we observed the social interaction of the teenagers with their surroundings. Finally, we gathered background information about the development of the congestion over time, through interviews with people that had been involved with the problem in the past, and got their insights and recommendations on the issue.
After the data was obtained, we categorised important information and analysed each group of data to determine the best recommendations. In the Analysis section we address the following six categories: 'The Nature of the Problem,' refers to the degree and level of congestion in the area as determined from our research. 'The
Effects of Time,' determines how different dismissal times effect the level of
congestion. 'The Location of the Bus Stops,' deals with how the location of the
congestion directly depends on the location of the stops. 'The Transportation: Buses
and Tram services,' discusses where students need to be transported to, and how this
can be done. 'Social Issues and Activities,' discusses what the students do at the
shopping centre and how conscious they are of the impact of their actions. Finally,
`The Age of Transfer,' suggests the implications of this event on the congestion.
Using these categories, we analysed the problem from every useful angle. This
enabled us to make informed recommendations on how to decrease crowding in the
area.
After having completed our analysis, various recommendations were given for
the resolution of the conflict in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. Five
major ideas to relieve the congestion problem are: the relocation of the current bus
stops to different places, the assignment of youth workers to the students, privatising
iv school transport, changing the dismissal times of conflicting schools, and integration of the bus station with the current train station. We hope that these recommendations will help decrease the degree of the conflict or even eradicate the problem in the
Centre Court Shopping Centre. Table of contents
ABSTRACT II
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY III
TABLE OF CONTENTS VI
TABLE OF FIGURES VIII
AUTHORSHIP PAGE X
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 2.1 STUDY OF URBAN LAYOUTS AND PAST OCCURRENCES 4 2.1.1 Overview of Urban Planning 4 2.1.2 Design for Pedestrian Streets 5 2.1.3 Street Safety for Students 7 2.1.4 Case Study: West 46 th street, New York City 8 2.1.5 Case Study: Pell and Doyers Street in Chinatown, New York City 9 2.2 SOCIAL ASPECTS TO CONGESTION 10 2.2. 1 Social structure of the group 10 2.2.2 Motivation for the congregation of teenagers 12 2.2.3 Space of people — Levels of comfort 13 2.3 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN PLANNING. 14 2.3.1 Importance of public participation. 14 2.3.2 Techniques for encouraging successful public participation 16 2.3.3 Case Study 23 3. METHODOLOGY 25
1) BACKGROUND RESEARCH 26 2) OBSERVATIONS AT THE AREAS OF THE BUS STOPS 27 3) SURVEY OF THE STUDENTS 28 4) INTERVIEWS 30
4. RESULTS 33 BACKGROUND RESEARCH RESULTS 33 OBSERVATION RESULTS 35 SURVEYS 50 Demographics of population surveyed 51 Arrival 53 Reasons for coming 54 Time at the shopping centre 59 Tramlink 60 Students opinion on the problem at the shopping centre 61 INTERVIEWS 64 5. ANALYSIS OF DATA 72
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 72 EFFECTS OF TIME OF DISMISSAL 75 TRANSPORTATION: BUSES AND TRAM 83 SOCIAL ISSUES AND ACTIVITIES 89 AGE OF TRANSFER 92 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 97
RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS 98
vi YOUTH WORKERS 98 MOVING THE LOCATION OF Bus STOP #1 100 ACTIVITY CENTRE 102 CHANGING SCHOOL DISMISSAL TIMES 104 SCHOOL BUSES 105 NEW STATION 107 DISMISSED SOLUTIONS 107 No UNIFORMS AT SHOPPING CENTRE 108 RE-ROUTING BUSES 108 BIBLIOGRAPHY 110
APPENDIX A - SPONSOR INFORMATION 113
APPENDIX B - INFORMATION FROM BACKGROUND RESEARCH 114
APPENDIX C - SHEET USED FOR TAKING NOTES DURING OBSERVATIONS 118
APPENDIX D - STUDENT SURVEY 119
APPENDIX E - GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF STUDENTS' TRAFFIC AT BUS STOP #1 122
APPENDIX F - GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF STUDENT TRAFFIC AT BUS STOP #2 130
APPENDIX G - GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF STUDENT TRAFFIC AT BUS STOP #3 138
vii Table of Figures
Figure 1 Process of urban planning for pedestrians. 6 Figure 2: Graph of the number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, from data gathered on 17th of May 2000 at Bus Stop #1. 36 Figure 3: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, from data gathered on 17th of May, 2000 at Bus Stop #1 36 Figure 4: Graph of the number of students from each school arriving by bus at Wimbledon Centre according to the number of bus they used, from data gathered on the 17th of May, 2000 at Bus Stop #1 37 Figure 5: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus from the Wimbledon Centre according to the number of bus they used, from data gathered on 17th of May, 2000 at Bus Stop#1 37 Figure 6: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday. 38 Figure 7: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving by bus from the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday 39 Figure 8: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at Wimbledon Centre by number of bus used, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday. 40 Figure 9: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by the number of bus used, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday 41 Figure 10: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Thursday 42 Figure 11: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Thursday 43 Figure 12: Graph of the number of students from each school arriving at the Wimbledon Centre by the number of bus used, on a typical Thursday 44 Figure 13: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving the Wimbledon Centre by number of bus used, on a typical Thursday 45 Figure 14: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Friday 46 Figure 15: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Friday 47 Figure 16: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by number of bus used, on a typical Friday 48 Figure 17: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by the number of bus used, on a typical Friday. 49 Figure 18: Graph of the number of students from each school by the bus stop they use the most for their travel. 50 Figure 19: Graph illustrating the ages of the population surveyed. 51 Figure 20: Graph illustrating the number of males and females surveyed 51 Figure 21: Graph of the percentage of students surveyed from each school. 52 Figure 22: Graph illustrating the means of transportation used to get to Wimbledon Centre by the students of each school. 53 Figure 25: Graph illustrating the means of transportation the students use to get to their destination 54 Figure 27: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the students from Wimbledon College after they leave from Wimbledon Centre 57 Figure 28: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the students from Ricards Lodge after they leave from Wimbledon Centre 58 Figure 29: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the students from the other schools 59 Figure 30: Graph illustrating the time students spend in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. 59 Figure 31: Graph illustrating the percent of the students surveyed that had knowledge upon the operation of the tramlink 60 Figure 32: Graph illustrating the willingness of the students to take the tramlink to go to their next destination. 61
viii Figure 33: Graph illustrating the percentage of the students surveyed that think there is a problem in the area of the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre 61 Figure 34: Graph illustrating students' opinion on the problem in the are of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. 62 Figure 35: Graph illustrating students' recommendations on the problem 63 Figure 37: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the total number of students leaving the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre by bus 83 Figure 38: Graph illustrating the percentage of the students surveyed that think there is a problem in the area of the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre 90 Figure 39: Figure showing the current number of students vs. the number of students after the age of transfer for average Monday through Wednesday 93 Figure 40: Figure illustrating the current number of students vs. the number of students after the Age of Transfer for an average Thursday 94 Figure 41: Figure illustrating the current number of students versus the number of students after the Age of Transfer for an average Friday. 94
Table 1: Table presenting the different times of dismissal for the three schools under study. 76 Table 2 : Table illustrating the increase of the students at Ricards Lodge 92
ix Authorship page
Abstract Author: Teodoro Armentero, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Konstantina Tsouroufli
Executive Summary Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Konstantina Tsouroufli
Introduction Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Konstantina Tsouroufli
Literature Review
1.1 Study of Urban layouts and Past Occurences Author: Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.1.1 Overview of Urban Planning Author: Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.1.2 Design of pedestrian streets Author: Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.1.3 Street Safety for Students Author: Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.1.4 Case Study: West 46 th street, New York City Author: Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.1.5 Case Study: Pell and Doyers Street in Chinatown, New York City Author: Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.2 Social aspects to congestion Author: Matthew Horvay Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli 1.2.1 Social structure of the group Author: Matthew Horvay Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli 1.2.2 Motivation for the congregation of teenagers Author: Matthew Horvay Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.2.3 Space of people- Levels of comfort Author: Matthew Horvay Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.3 Public participation in planning Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.3.1 Importance of public participation Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.3.2 Techniques for encouraging successful public participation Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
1.3.3 Case Study Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Methodology
1) Background research Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Juan Troost Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
2) Observations at the areas of the bus stops Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
3) Survey of the students Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
4) Interviews Author: Matthew Horvay Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Results
Background research results Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Konstantina Tsouroufli
xi Observation results Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Konstantina Tsouroufli
Surveys Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Konstantina Tsouroufli
Interviews Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Konstantina Tsouroufli
Analysis of Data
Nature of the problem Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Effects of Time of Dismissal Author: Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Transportation: Buses and Tram Author: Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli, Teodoro Armenteros Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Issues and activities Author: Matthew Horvay Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Age of Transfer Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Konstantina Tsouroufli Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Conclusions and Recommendations Author: Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Recommended Solutions Author: Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost Editor: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Appendix A — Sponsor Information Author: Juan Troost
xii Appendix B — Information gathered from Background research Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Appendix C — Sheet used for taking notes during observations Author: Konstantina Tsouroufli
Appendix D — Student Survey Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Appendix E — Graphical representation of student's traffic at Bus stop #1 Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Appendix F - Graphical representation of student's traffic at Bus stop #2 Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli
Appendix G - Graphical representation of student's traffic at Bus stop #3 Author: Teodoro Armenteros, Matthew Horvay, Juan Troost, Konstantina Tsouroufli 1. Introduction
The London Borough of Merton invited our project team to investigate and analyse the pedestrian congestion that occurs outside the Wimbledon Centre Court
Shopping Centre. This congestion is caused by the large amount of students arriving in the area after the local schools are dismissed. This influx of students, in combination with the other pedestrians, leads to the creation of an unpleasant environment where pedestrian flow is restricted. In addition, numerous violent incidents have been reported by the shopkeepers and other pedestrians.
The main purpose of this project was to determine the nature of the conflict at the Centre Court Shopping Centre and its causes, and to propose solutions that will lead to the decrease of the congestion in the area. In addition, we had to predict what effect an increase of the number of students at one of the local schools would have on the congestion. In order to achieve our goals, we had to gather information concerning
the reasons why the congestion is created, who is creating it and how serious it is. We
had to identify the dynamics behind the various groups of people that gather in the
area and observe how they interact. We also had to discover how the physical layout
of the shopping centre as well as the surrounding environment affects the problem. In
addition, we had to determine the efficiency of any public transportation system that
currently functions in the area and the effect of the newly operating tramline on the
degree of the congestion.
With the completion of this project, we hope to assist the Borough of Merton
in developing intelligent solutions for the resolution of the congestion outside the
Centre Court Shopping Centre. We feel it is important to combine all the authorities
involved for the creation of recommendations. We primarily address this project to
the officers of the Education Department at the Civic Centre in Merton. However, we feel this project also concerns the teaching board of the three main schools in the area,
Ursuline Covent, Wimbledon College and Ricards Lodge, the officers from London
Transport and London United, the companies that run the buses involved in our study, and the police officers of the Wimbledon Police Station. It is a project that is rooted in an everyday problem in the society and the implementation of the recommendations made will have an impact to the everyday lives of the students involved.
Among the recommendations given at the last chapter, we included ideas such as: the relocation of bus stops that are currently outside the shopping centre, the employment of youth workers that will educate the students on proper behaviour in
public places and the importance of respecting others, privatising school
transportation for the easier and faster transportation of the students from school to
their homes, the change of schedules for conflicting schools for the prevention of the
potential for conflicts and finally the integration of the bus stations with the train
station for the greater convenience of commuters.
For the production of these solutions we had to collect data, combine them and
analyse them. Therefore, we employed methods such as observational studies,
surveys, interviews and map representations to gather information concerning the
origin and destination of the students gathering in the area, the development of the
problem over the time and the points of greater conflict for the better visualisation of
the problem.
The chapters that follow illustrate the background research that was conducted
before our arrival in London, the methodology followed for the collection of the data,
a presentation of the data gathered from each method implemented, the analysis of the
data, and finally the conclusions and recommendations given at the last chapter.
2 The completion of an Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) is required for all undergraduate students at WPI. The goal of the IQP is to relate engineering and science to the social sciences and society in general. In our project, we attempted to use our knowledge and research to make informed recommendations for the resolution of the conflict in the area of the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre.
3 2. Literature Review
In our effort to comprehend the project, we believe that a broad approach would cover every possible aspect of it. Therefore, we researched different fields that may be associated with the possible causes of the pedestrian congestion. Studying urban planning and design, the social interactions of pedestrians, and the methods of public participation in that field, as well as cases that occurred in the past, has increased our ability to understand the current conflicts in Merton.
2.1 Study of Urban layouts and Past Occurrences
Urban Planning is carried out on many scales from developing a pavement in a shopping centre in a suburban area to setting up a network of roadways in the busy neighbourhoods of New York. The section that follows is a very brief explanation of the background and history of urban planning for pedestrians. Two case studies involving conflict over pedestrian areas are reviewed. The study of urban planning
will help familiarise the group with terms and methods of design, which are used to
help understand the context of urban space usage.
2.1.1 Overview of Urban Planning
Urban Planning has been a public process since cities first developed
throughout the world. Recently, its professional focus has become designing city
spaces, which appeal to and promote the efficient use by urban inhabitants. Urban
Planning includes the development and layout of pavements.
City pavement design has to make pedestrians' comfort a key issue. Some
designers have taken that into consideration. The city of Bologna, Italy has a network
of pavement and walkways design to protect the pedestrians from the elements.
(Fruin, 1971). The concept of separating the modes of travel for pedestrians and
4 vehicles is not new to urban planning; in fact it is one that was incorporated centuries ago. "Da Vinci, the engineer, recognised that the most efficient traffic for both the pedestrian and vehicles required separate, continuous networks for both." (Ibid.).
2.1.2 Design for Pedestrian Streets
The process of design for a pedestrian pavement is well established. Even though different developers and engineers may have different objectives, they usually
approach developing a pedestrian project in a similar way. The intention is to keep the
pedestrian safe and comfortable.
Street and transportation systems for pedestrian and traffic are usually planned
for long-term benefits. "The principle phrase of traditional planning process was
geared to the development of long-range capital investments program in primary
transportation facilities" (OECD, 1977). The development of an area has to be viewed
with the idea that it must have lasting capabilities; approximately every construction
development or renovation has to last 50 years with the current technologies in
materials and procedures of construction. It is only recently that the approach to urban
design that is being applied through Europe and the Western Hemisphere focuses on
the pedestrian and his interaction with the environment. An author envisions this
process as follows:
5 ormation of Project Task aintaining an element of orce run
Focus on Project Impetus
Responsiveness to Context onceptual Framework
Positive approach toward Technical studies design Constraints
(Moudon, 1991)
FIGURE 1 PROCESS OF URBAN PLANNING FOR PEDESTRIANS.
A clear focus on the uses of the project for the people or the community is important. The development must be pedestrian friendly in everything from total look
of the project to walking distances along the development. "Good street designs are
those that demonstrate a little serenity and enthusiasm" (Ibid).
The minimum standards that a developer must follow when planning a
pavement are guidelines for handicapped individuals. According to John Fruin, the
design of walkways require the following standards:
• Walks should at least be 5 feet wide, with a maximum grade of 5% • Walks should be a continuing common surface, not interrupted by steps or abrupt changes in levels • Wherever walks or road way cross a road the road surface should be cut, and the walk ramped to road level • Longer walks near the maximum grade should have level areas at intervals, for purpose of rest and safety • Walks should have non-slip surfaces. (Fruin, 1971)
These factors are all part of a successful pedestrian walkway that may increase
safety and reduce the risk of congestion in an area. It is important to know the needs
of the area that is being developed. In some cases, the physical redevelopment of the
6 area is not needed. Instead an alternation in the pavement system could resolve the problem.
2.1.3 Street Safety for Students
The Centre Court Shopping Centre in the Borough of Merton is a gathering place for a large number of students. At different hours of any weekday storeowners, shoppers, clients of local professional offices, people on their way to work and students on their way home from school must use the pavements in front of the shopping centre.
Young students may regularly make up a large percentage of the people on the streets near the shopping centre. Studies done on student safety in urban areas have determined that students tend to consider pavements as play areas or places for interaction. "One out of five children interviewed in a study of three British neighbourhoods said streets and associated spaces were their preferred after-school play areas (Mouden, 1991). The large range of activities that can take place in or near the shopping centre could make it a haven for kids wanting to spend their free after school time with their friends. According to a Department of the Environment study of British neighbourhoods, 93% of students surveyed said that they go to their favourite after school places on foot (Mouden, 1991) This means that a large amount of their time is spent walking close to traffic, en route to their favourite places. Traffic and pavement safety is a concern. Safety concerning human behaviour may not be as easy to control. The gathering of large crowds of susceptible children and teenagers may attract criminal elements. Hopefully when resolving an issue of pedestrian congestion the criminal threat should be dealt with simultaneously. By creating more open space, people are more spread out and therefore the crime is reduced. (Mouden,
1991).
7 A common method for increasing safety and security used in cases of transportation congestion where there is pedestrian interaction with cars is called
"separating the modes" (Ray, 2000). This term is as simple as it sounds. It means finding ways to separate the two entities so that the congestion loads are distributed.
The "flow" of traffic is another important issue. Flow is usually measured in speed and density in an equation represented P = S x D. By controlling the amount of traffic and pedestrian flow, the total safe volume and size of a walkway can be determined
(Fruin, 1971). Safety concerns should diminish with this approach; if not other means can be incorporated for vehicle traffic such as bumps, various surface treatments, passages combining "neck" and lines of travel (Mouden, 1991).
The development of an effective urban plan is a process involving a well- recognised set of steps. Specifications for developing an area for pedestrians must also be taken into consideration. The following case studies of similar problems show how these principles can be applied.
2.1.4 Case Study: West 46 th street, New York City
In New York City, the area of West 46 th Street between 8 th and 9th Avenue is a place of pedestrian gridlock during evening hours. The large number of restaurants there, which rely on customers from the theatre district, attracts large crowds. This area is also a densely populated residential area and this causes regular high pedestrian flow on the streets. The area has narrow walkways that cannot contain this considerable pedestrian traffic. Also the position of amenities on the streets takes up walking space intended for pedestrians.
Steven Davis studied the area using a flow analysis, which measured pedestrian flow before and after theatre show times on both sides of the street. He noted that every 15 minutes 275 people use each stretch of pavement. Two-thirds of
8 the time the people walking on the pavements were in groups of two or more walking side by side. Although the pavements are 7 feet wide, they are not all walking space because there are trees, restaurant canopies and other obstructions. According to
Davis the average walking space required for two couples to pass each other is 10 feet. In some parts of the street the walking space is reduced to 1.5 ft. Davis suggests the following solutions: Banning parking in the street would allow widening of the pavements by 7 feet on each side of the street and satisfy local storekeepers who need space for delivery vehicles. This would give sufficient walking space for that area even during peak traffic hours. Although the width of the street would be diminished to 20 feet, this is enough to allow access for delivery trucks and an extra lane for
through traffic. Trees could now be incorporated to the environment of the street
(Davis, 1982). The following case study demonstrates how separating the modes can
resolve a pedestrian problem.
2.1.5 Case Study: Pell and Doyers Street in Chinatown, New York City
The streets of Pell and Doyers in the centre of Chinatown in New York are the
location of a number of shopping centre businesses, restaurants and family residences.
The streets are also the front yard for most of the people that live there. Pell Street is
30 feet wide (building to building) and Doyers is 24 feet wide. This is not enough
space for both vehicles and pedestrians. During peak usage, the pavements overflow
with pedestrians who use the street as a walkway.
Davis has considered way to regulate the two modes of walking and vehicles.
He notices that the problem is that the pedestrians do overflow to the street. The
pavements in these neighbourhoods aren't designed to withstand this heavy pedestrian
traffic and car passage at the same time. Therefore the obvious solution that comes to
mind is to eliminate one. Since the pedestrians are the more permanent element the
9 option of removing the vehicles is the most feasible. He chose to look at a way to fit the people into that space and recommends that the street should be closed to vehicular traffic. The only way a vehicle could transit the area is by special permit for delivery of products to the stores. But these deliveries have to take place at set times when there is no pedestrian traffic, such as the early morning. This solution deals with several problems at once including the issue of pedestrian congestion.
2.2 Social aspects to congestion
Congestion, in the Centre Court Shopping Centre may be a result of both over crowding of pedestrians at a point location, and of the relations between different populations using the Centre. People, their habits, and their interactions with other people in the area are therefore important considerations. The following review of
sociological and social psychological analyses of issues associated with crowding will focus on the social interactions and relations between groups in congested areas. The
Merton students' motivations for gathering and the relationship between personal
space and level of comfort (the management of population density) of all the groups at
the Centre Court Shopping Centre are issues which can only be explored on-site. This
section concludes with a review of the literature on how crowded locations can be
managed in local planning policy and programs.
2.2.1 Social structure of the group
The social structure of a group must first be examined for possible interactions
and relations of interest. The two groups of people at the Centre Court Shopping
Centre who seem to have problems with the group of teenagers are shop owners and
pedestrians; as such, their interactions with the teenagers are of high importance. The
teenagers themselves may belong to different groups. Not all these groups will
10 interact with customers or store managers in the same way. "The key characteristics of group situations have to do with uniformities between individuals rather than their differences" (Brown, 1988, p. 8). The students are perceived as a group by the shop owners in the area, as well as by the Borough of Merton. They also share the social identification of being students and teenagers. Thus, the students are a group, but the uniformities between them may be very limited and broad in nature. Returning to the individuals in the group, a look at the possible group divisions is in order. The student members of the group at the Centre Court Shopping Centre are from three different schools; are there rivalries between students from different schools? Is the group of teenagers really unified in anything but appearance?
"Peer groups tend to form on the basis of age, and are frequently designated as age-mate groups. Adolescent cliques are usually characterised by a sharper awareness of common emotional ties, division of function within the group, and the sovereign demand of loyalty to it" (Bonner, 1959, p. 135). Based upon this distinction, the mass of students cannot even be defined as a peer group. The students may only have in common their identity as students and the school they are from. The fact that they are from three different schools may divide them even more. It might be a mistake to think about the students at the Centre Court Shopping Centre as any sort of cohesive group. It is also worth considering whether the shop managers in the Centre are a cohesive group in their interaction with the students.
"Though the person responds to the stimuli of those near at hand, he reacts as if they were coming from an enormously greater number of individuals, and this impression of universality," can cause an outsider to mistake an action of those near by as being representative of the actions of the whole group (Lindzey, 1969, p. 541).
1 1 "The differences between groups are exaggerated and the similarities within them are enhanced" (Brown, 1988, p. 254).
In summary, the group of students may be made up of a lot of small, individual cliques that have nothing more in common than that they are all British students waiting for their buses. There could be a tendency for non-students to regard them as a unified group based upon the relatively similar age, dress, and other superficial coincidences, which are most likely not even noticed by the students themselves.
There would also be a tendency to mistakenly associate the behaviour of the most visible and radical members of the group with the group as a whole (Brown, 1988).
2.2.2 Motivation for the congregation of teenagers
This section will deal with possible social needs, which are being satisfied during this period of the students' days.
"We learn a great deal about ourselves from other people... Social interaction is crucial for developing a sense of self" (Aronson, 1994, pp. 230-1). Time spent with
peers while the students are waiting for their buses is an important part of their
development. It may be their only chance to be around a large group of their peers in
an informal setting, particularly the peers from other schools in the area. Therefore, if
the crowding is to be reduced the method for achieving this may need to allow for the
intermingling of the students with their peers on a similar scale in a way that does not
interfere with the prosperity of a shopping centre or the comfort of other visitors.
Another possible reason for gathering is that the students derive a sense of identity
from the place itself. If this is the case, any attempt to move the students to a different
area will encounter resistance, probably strong resistance, because the physical area
would be of importance to them.
12 2.2.3 Space of people — Levels of comfort
People are sensitive to the amount of space they have. When a person feels that he or she does not have enough space, they will suffer any of a range of negative reactions. Thus, both the circumstances under which people tend to feel crowded and the average amount of space a person needs in order to feel comfortable must be examined.
Humans value personal space (Fruin, 1987, p. 20). "The pedestrian has his own personal space preferences which are related to his sense of 'territory' and body image. If freedom of choice exists, pedestrians will adopt personal spacing which
avoids contact with others" (Thud). "Psychological preferences of avoiding bodily
contact with others is a determinant of inter-person spacing" (Fruin, 1987, p. 19).
Thus we know that people should be allowed enough area so that they are never
required to come in physical contact with another person. It is also known that being
around other people excites us (Aronson, 1994). When we feel crowded by too many
people around us our long-term performance degrades due to the level of excitement
(Ibid). The students, shop owners, and pedestrians may all experience this
excitement. The majority of the students at the Centre Court Shopping Centre could
interpret the feeling of excitement in a positive way if they are there by choice. On
the other hand, the shop owners and pedestrians might interpret the excitement
negatively because they perceive a united group (the students) which they do not want
near them. If the shop owners and pedestrians were to perceive the students as
individuals forced to wait in the area for their buses, they might have fewer negative
reactions.
13 2.3 Public participation in planning.
The following section concentrates on the importance of public participation in planning and problem solving and how it can be achieved. Cases where public participation has played a key role in planning are also reviewed.
2.3.1 Importance of public participation.
According to the Skeffington Committee, "public participation in planning is the act of sharing in the formulation of policies and proposals" (1969). It often means continuous interactions and outcomes with government officials to achieve community development programs that will be responsive to local needs and will
have broad community support (Crespi, 1997; Thompson, 1975).
Public participation is essential in the planning process because it contributes
to good planning in two main ways. First, the planning process may be improved
since it provides the planning agency with information and insights it can obtain in no
other way. Secondly, public participation may help citizens understand their role,
rights and responsibilities in relation to their communities. Encouraging them to
participate for the common good of their society by playing an active part to
discussions and the determination of public policies is healthy in itself (Thompson,
1975; Sewell and Coppock, 1977; Hoover and Altschuler, 1977). Projects and
solutions gain public acceptance when the public is involved in their achievement. As
Abraham Lincoln said in the course of his famous contest with Douglas "With public
opinion on its side, everything succeeds. With public opinion against it, nothing
succeeds" (Bradburn and Sudman, 1988).
2.3.1.1 Goals of public participation.
The main goals of citizen participation are: to provide a mechanism through
which local governments can resolve problems on the community level, provide
14 citizen input in the development of bond issues or other matters requiring majority approval, reduce citizen alienation and finally enhance citizen capabilities to hold local governments accountable for the effectiveness and efficiency of the program
(Hoover and Altschuler, 1977; Thompson, 1975). Participation also encourages public decisions that reflect local values, needs and priorities. It exposes special socio- economic, environmental and transportation needs.
2.3.1.2 Levels and form of public participation.
Who should participate? Who is likely to participate? How much participation is possible, and on what kind of issues is public participation useful? Logic suggests that when a project or problem involves different groups of people, a participatory
process is more likely to produce a generally accepted outcome. Diversity in the
population that participates in the planning, may act as a means of establishing
legitimacy, as a way of receiving important input without causing the feeling of
representation by others and as a method of obtaining representation of the
community's attitudes, concerns, objectives and priorities (Hoover and Altschuler,
1977).
Ideally, a decision-making process should take into consideration the views
of all the people that have a legitimate interest in the matter at hand. However,
typically, planners place reliance mostly upon individuals or groups that make their
voice heard through the media or by appearances at public hearings and meetings.
Poor and/or minority groups used to fail to make their opinion heard, but currently,
emphasis has been given to the importance of ensuring that all income groups, all
racial groups, the old, the young and disabled are being represented (National
Research Council, 1973).
15 Teenagers are a group whose potential contribution to their community is very often overlooked. Their ideas, talents and energy are usually excluded from community planning and local decision making. They are denied a role in creating action plans for their communities because they lack professional training or advanced education on the issues of concern (Ross & Coleman, 1999). But many adults whose right to have a say in community business is unquestioned also lack such training.
Planning experts have developed lists of suggested techniques for identifying certain groups and individuals whose participation is important for certain cases. For example, a report prepared for the New York State Department of Transportation by
Richard Yukubousky recommends that transportation planning discussions should include:
"Key Citizens. Examples of the organisations they may represent include: o Civic or neighbourhood associations o Business groups o Civil rights groups o Community service groups o Educational/ research institutions o Political groups o Environmental groups o Unaffiliated citizens - Community Officials - Transportation Study Organisation. o Policy Committee o Planning Committee o Study staff - Federal, State and Regional Public Agencies. - New York State Department of Transportation. - Citizens. This category includes those groups and/or individuals not involved in the organisations listed above" (Hoover and Altschuler, 1977, pp.41-2).
2.3.2 Techniques for encouraging successful public participation
Citizen participation can be successful according to Hoover and Altschuler, if
the following conditions are met:
16 - "Attracting large numbers of citizens to meetings of other than a protest nature, and engaging them in dialogue about planning problems, issues and/or options;
- Securing reliable information about citizen perceptions, priorities, attitudes, and values;
- Achieving consensus about the openness, fairness, and responsiveness of the process itself;
- Providing the responsible decision makers with reliable estimates of likely community reaction if specific plan recommendations and/or alternatives are adopted;
- Achieving greater support than would otherwise have existed for plan implementation; and
- Achieving adequate (ideally, consensual) support to assure plan implementation" (Hoover and Altschuler, 1977, p. 6).
2.3.2.1 Commonly used techniques
Some of the techniques that have been and are still in use to encourage public
participation are:
• Public opinion polls; Polling of the public refers to both local referenda and
the use of survey data collected for the reflection of public opinion.
• Surveys; Surveys can be described as "conversations with a purpose" since
survey data consists of questions posted by the researcher to answers given by
responders format. Surveys can be given either face to face, or on the
telephone or in the form of self-administered questionnaire (sent in the mail or
through e-mail).
• Public meetings; The usefulness of public meetings is most apparent as a
vehicle for dispersing information to members of the general public, but it can
also serve as means for interaction during the question and answer session.
• Letters to editors or public officials;
17 • Representations of pressure groups at all media; the media, with some
feedback mechanism, provide good coverage for a large area, but dialogue is
limited.
• Protests and demonstrations;
• Court actions;
• Workshops or seminars;
• Citizen advisory committees; they provide social, geographic, and
economic representation and the opportunity for structured dialogue over a
period of time. A valid cross section of the community is involved.
• Dialogue with interest groups; offers the opportunity for clearly explaining
issues to those likely to be in opposition. Face to face dialogue done door to
door allows great penetration in the community but is impractical in terms of
time and personnel requirements.
• Formal debate; used before the decision-making body provides an open
forum for which there is likely to be good media coverage but there is usually
no continuing dialogue.
• Professional citizen representatives;
• Contract planning elements to citizen groups; provides for the most direct
participation, but technical and fiscal control is impossible. (Sewell and
Coppock, 1977; Bradburn and Sudman, 1988; Thompson, 1975).
• Observation; its main advantage is directness as it makes possible the study
of behaviour as it occurs in its natural settings. The data collected are not
contaminated by factors that standing between the investigator and the object
of research (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992).
18 A combination of the preceding techniques is perhaps the best approach for it can be tailored to many areas of planning. These techniques enable citizens to be involved in the determination of goals and objectives of planning projects and in their evaluation. They should also help them be involved in determining priorities in implementation schedules and give them the opportunity to assist in reviewing these priorities in frequent intervals. The process described above should be seeking for the citizens' ideas, examining their alternatives and providing them with information
(National Research Council, 1973).
2.3.2.2 Recent methods of public participation
While the methods mentioned above may be key procedures in achieving public participation in planning, the public may not be able to visualise its involvement in decision-making processes and its contribution to the implementation of programs. Participatory action research includes approaches, which aim at creating a working relationship between authorities and their constituents. This approach focuses on the "participants' vision for the program's activity, their sense of the obstacles to achieving the vision and their views about strategies and tactics which can address the obstacles and specifics of implementation" (Ross & Rocheleau, 1995,
p.13). Some of these methods are:
- Participatory Rural Appraisal; "involves rural communities in their own
needs assessment, problem identification and ranking, strategy for
implementation and community action plan" (Ibid.).
- Training for Transformation; focuses on the link between development and
education to enable people to understand the structural causes of a community
problem.
19 - Productivity systems Assessment and Planning; combines people's
organisational skills with a community organiser to achieve visioning,
validation and planning.
- Contests and games; "They often vividly demonstrate issues and the
consequences of decisions. They are unusual, lively, and more stimulating
than formal meetings or reports" (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2000).
3D modal of the area considered; helps the people visualise the physical
layout of the place experiencing the problem.
Land use felt board; encourages discussion about land use choices — where
people are, who has access to, responsibility for and control over the resources
they are using. Usually used to guide technology change, land use and land
tenure programs.
- Problem Trees, Pair-wise Ranking and Options Assessment; used to
identify problems and conflicts and their causes. Used to discuss the problems
of less powerful groups.
- Landscape/ Lifescape mapping; used to "embody rural people's ideas and
actions over time, in space in relation to each other and to the natural
environment".
- Time lines; help people become aware of the neighbourhood's history, both
positive and negative, and of the community trends of responding to its
problems (Ross & Coleman, 1999).
It is also important for efficient public participation, to be able to determine the most appropriate mechanism according to the needs of the community. For example, techniques like citizen advisory committees or various city-wide structures, take a lot of time to develop and make it unfeasible for most local governments to establish
20 such mechanisms. The citizen participation plan or strategy should not be long and complicated but it should provide a clear description of its objectives, the way in which the activities will be integrated into the community development planning process, when and where the activity will be held, the type of information, training and technical assistance that will be provided to the citizens participating and who will provide it, and finally, the mechanism the city will establish to receive and respond to individual or group complaints concerning the developing program
(Thompson, 1975).
2.3.2.3 Techniques for data gathering
Qualitative research answers questions that cannot be analysed mathematically. With qualitative research you can build a picture of what the real problem is, and ways to solve it. "Formulating theoretical interpretations of data grounded in reality provides a powerful means both for understanding the world "out
there" and for developing action strategies that will allow for some measure of control
over it" (Strauss & Corbin, pp. 9, 1985) With qualitative research you can produce a
more authentic, more rounded, image of the social world. (Atkinson & Coffey, 1977.)
Qualitative research is important because can provide explanations and details of a
problem which can be difficult to assess with quantitative methods.
Quantitative research gathers data that can be measured and analysed
mathematically. The benefits are that it provides a clear analysis data using statistical
methods. Qualitative data can be analysed in a quantitative way and vice versa.
A technique used by Hass and Morall to obtain quantitative results was
observational data acquisition. The purpose was to develop a pedestrian demand
model. They used a "walking time-distance" survey. This study took place in the
parking lots of Carleton University an area that had intense land-use activities. An
21 area with intense land-use activities generally has a large volume of people and heavy pedestrian traffic. To gather the information the team of researchers spread out and counted the number of pedestrians using particular pathways. From this study they determined the pedestrian hourly volumes at each section (Behnam, 1977). This is a technique that could be used in our project to measure congestion at the Centre Court
Shopping Centre.
Qualitative data can be obtained in many ways, through interviews, field notes, documents, pictures, naturally occurring interactions, and other representations.
(Akinsons & Coffey, 1985) One of the surveying techniques used by Prankia
Seneviratne to gather information on congestion in certain city streets was the "origin- destination" survey. This survey was carried out in the central business district of the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The objective of the questionnaire was to learn the reason behind the travel routes of individuals, and to learn the exact route a person might regularly take. "An origin-destination (OD) survey provided information on pedestrian walking distances and the factors affecting choice of route." (Seneviratne,
1985 p. 9) From this type of survey you can determine some of the reasons that cause
pedestrians to congregate. An origin-destination survey is usually carried out at the
peak traffic hour of the congested street. This method may be applied in the Merton
district.
Another method of gathering data used in Carleton University research
involved filming areas of relatively high pedestrian volumes. "Video tape recording
was chosen as the data collection method because it provides a lot of information on
permanent record, is easy to set up and can be used to log data discretely." (Habitch
and Braaksma, 1984) The camera used was concealed behind a ventilator on the
ceiling of the edge of a roof. With this they were able to obtain distributions from
22 taped observations. The taping of the data was done over the period of a week at peak hours of corridor usage. This technique could be used in our project to compare the how the pedestrians react to the pavements around the Mall, and how pedestrians react to pavements in other areas of the city.
2.3.3 Case Study
Today, most companies and organisations that are involved in planning, use public participation as part of their projects. Here, a case study illustrates the great power and importance that public participation has gained over the years in any kind of planning.
In Wimbledon, London, the Merton Borough Council in co-operation with
Tibbalds Monro conducted an urban design campaign. Their goal was to create a proposal for the urban development of the Town Centre in order to make it a better and more attractive place. Their aim was to use consultation and development options
involving a range of people with different interests, to solve past conflicts over proposals for the site. They achieved this by organising open workshop sessions,
which included landowners, businesses, councillors, site occupiers and neighbours,
residents and amenity groups. They were looking for their insights on the objectives
of the project and the techniques of approaching it. They wanted the community to
help them generate design options and explore the impact different designs had on
people. The workshops produced discussions on issues concerning the project and
revealed common objectives and possible options for achieving the final goal. These
options were refined, tested and then debated again in the final round of workshops.
The priorities were decided and the design guidelines were put on a development
framework, which was finally adopted. The final result of this campaign was the
confirmation to the agencies that public participation is a very worthwhile part of
23 urban planning and design and by using consultation they added greater legitimacy to their project. They also helped local community and authorities to have a say in the development of their region.
24 3. Methodology
Our project team had developed a methodology during our period of preparation in Worcester that was substantially revised after our arrival in London. The nature of the problem at the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre was originally thought to be related to the physical layout of the centre. The project team devoted one of our first days in London to observing the main area of congestion in the vicinity of the shopping centre. As a result of these observations, the project team determined that the problem was related to the number of students who gather at the stops at the entrance of the shopping centre. Large crowds from as many as fifteen different schools congregate in this area and we observed fights or other violent behaviour by the students. Social interaction played a significant role in students gathering there and therefore the team focused on social interactions and identifying the schools of these students.
This chapter discusses our methods of background research, observations of buses, survey-questionnaire of students, and interviews. To give precise solutions
pertaining to the congestion and conflict, we concentrated on investigating the social
interactions between pedestrians and the bus route schedules. These two topics were
important because we needed to understand to what degree they influenced the
problem. It was also important to observe the social interactions between pedestrians,
in order to understand the reasons why they gather at that exact location. The bus
routes and schedules were analysed so that the travel patterns of the students could be
visualised. This showed us if the students use the shopping centre to socialise or
commute.
25 1) Background Research
The team performed archival research in newspapers, police records, and architectural plans to investigate the development of the conflicts outside the Centre
Court Shopping Centre over the time. The data obtained from this archival research formed part of the background information which helped us learn about previous occurrences on the problem, and solutions that had been offered in the past.
Newspaper research was carried out at the library of the London Borough of
Merton Civic Centre to gather information on incidents pertaining to the student conflicts in the area. The problem of student congestion in the area of the shopping centre is an important issue throughout the Borough and has been the subject of several articles within the past year. The team looked for articles on the conflict in the local newspaper. A search of the World Wide Web was also conducted to locate articles in the national newspapers based in London. The research methods learned while developing the literature review were implemented in these searches.
Police records also contained information about the violent incidents that have been reported at the shopping centre. Members of our team visited the local police department to request information concerning incidents involving the students in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre.
The architectural plans of the area may help the group trace the bus routes and locate possible solutions. The project team contacted authorities at the Civic Centre to obtain maps, which would assist in the analysis of the pedestrian flow and separating modes of transport.
26 2) Observations at the areas of the bus stops
In answering our research question concerning the relationship between the bus schedules, routes, and the problem of pedestrian congestion, we made observations at the bus stops around the Centre Court Shopping Centre. From these observations, we related the location of the buses with the degree of the problem.
There are three bus stops located outside the shopping centre. The first bus
stop is located immediately in front of the entrance, on Wimbledon Bridge Street. The
second bus stop is located on the same street but closer to the Wimbledon Station. The
third stop is located across the shopping centre on Hartfield road. Since each bus stop
serves different buses, it was necessary to make observations at each of them in order
to obtain accurate information.
Our observations were conducted in the following manner. One or more
members of our team were located at each bus stop and for each bus, we marked the
time of arrival, the time of departure, and the number of students getting on and off.
Also, the observer noted the number of the students from each school. This was
possible since students from each school wear different school uniforms. Furthermore,
the weather conditions were noted everyday to determine if the weather influenced the
number of students gathering in the area.
These observations helped us gather the information we needed to answer the
following questions:
• What are the peak hours when the greatest number of students are present in the
area of the shopping centre?
• Approximately how long do the students stay on site?
• What is the percentage of students to the area of the shopping centre from each
school?
27 • Which buses are the most popular for the students to take when travelling from
their school to the shopping centre? Which buses are most heavily used leaving
the centre?
• Which bus stops have the largest student crowds?
• How the fact that some schools get out earlier on certain days affect the problem
of congestion outside the shopping centre?
• How will the 50% increase in students at Ricards Lodge due to the "Age of
Transfer" affect the number of students gathering in the area in front of the
shopping centre?
By answering these questions, we wanted to estimate the inflow and outflow of students in the area and how they contribute to the creation of the congestion. We would like to know if this only occurs in front of the shopping centre or at the surrounding bus stops as well. We wanted to determine how easy it was for the students to get to the area and their real reason for gathering there. The information that we gathered will help us answer and revise our initial research questions and define the nature of the solutions that should be recommended for the resolution of our problem.
3) Survey of the students
In addition to our observations, we conducted surveys of the students in the area of the shopping centre. The surveys were conducted on the spot in the form of a face to face short interview where each team member surveyed a specific number of
students (20/person) with a questionnaire. This format made the survey more
interactive and personal, and allowed for recording qualitative comments from the
students as well as quantitative data from the tabulated surveys.
28 The survey consisted of a questionnaire concerning the origin and destination of the students' travel, their means of transport and their reason for being there. In addition to the origin and destination questions, we surveyed the students' opinions of the congestion. The students were asked their thoughts about whether they believed there was a problem in the area or not. If students thought there was a problem, they were asked their ideas about what should be done to resolve the problem. Also, we asked for their opinion of other means of transportation and how willing they are to use them. In addition, we wanted to find out about their willingness to use other means of transportation, such as the tram-link, if it passed through their destination.
The actual questionnaire is in Appendix D.
With this survey, we hoped to increase public participation, especially by the students, in resolving the issue. Our literature review suggested the importance of public participation in obtaining successful results. We wanted to approach the students, getting their insight on the issue, and to find out whether they believe there is a problem or not. We wanted to discover their real reason for gathering in the area
and encourage them to contribute possible solutions to the conflict which is taking
place.
The topics of the questions were chosen with care to help us gather
information on the approximate areas of the students' origins and destinations, how
long they stay at the shopping centre, and determine their real reason for gathering in
the area. Furthermore, by asking their opinion on the matter of congestion, we wanted
to determine whether they think there is a problem in the area or not, and if so, we
wanted to get their input on the solutions proposed.
Through this procedure we intend to cross-reference the percentages of
students arriving on site by bus with those gathered by observation. In addition, we
29 will be able to determine their real reason for being in the area, which will help us concentrate on what specific kinds of suggestions to make. From the results of the origin and destination questions we want to determine the relationship between the current schedules, routes and stops of the buses and the problem of congestion outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre.
4) Interviews
The next source of information concerning the conflict at the Centre Court
Shopping Centre is interviews of non-students who have experience with the conflict.
The goal of these interviews is to get a historical perspective on the conflict, collect necessary information for our origin and destination study, obtain new ideas for possible solutions, and get input regarding current possible solutions. The parties which were interviewed for these purposes are the following: the principal engineer of the environmental department, representative from London Transport, security guards at the Centre Court Shopping Centre, police officers who work in the area.
In our interview with Mr. Ray Puddy, the principal engineer of the environmental department, we addressed questions needed to analyse the results of our origin and destination study. We asked him for a number of different items in
support of our origin and destination study. Those items are:
• A map of the bus routes that pass through the area;
• Location of the schools on the map;
• The postal codes of the areas the buses that pass through;
• Schedules and routes of the tram-link, when it is going to open, and the postal
codes of the areas it passes through;
30 These items will allow us to analyse the results of the origin and destination questions on the surveys of students. On the surveys, we asked for the postal code of the student's destination, which will enable us to locate the students' destinations on a map. The postal codes of the area that the tram-link passes through, in combination with the results of the student surveys, will allow us to determine how many more students could use the tram-link to get to their destination. The map of the bus routes and the schools will allow us to evaluate the possibilities of re-routing the buses or repositioning the bus stops. We also asked Mr. Puddy's opinion of the possible solutions we have already thought of, and if he had any other possible solutions to the conflict.
The interview with a representative from London Transport addressed the possibility of implementing a number of our different possible solutions. To this end we asked him the following questions:
• Could re-routing of the buses happen?
• Could the bus stops be relocated?
• Would it be possible to implement 'school buses' to take the students directly
home?
The answers to these questions are very important, as they will demonstrate
the feasibility of some of our possible solutions. We also asked if he has any
suggestions for other possible solutions and at the end of the interview, we asked if he
has anything else to add.
Our interview with the security guard addressed the history of the conflict at
the Centre Court Shopping Centre and possible solutions to the conflict. We asked
when the conflict first began, how the conflict has evolved over time, and if there
were any specific incidents they would like to relate. The answers to these questions
31 were valuable pieces of information from the interviews, as they were things we would have not been able to observe for ourselves. Our time in the area was too limited to observe how the conflict has developed over time. This will help us discover the causes of the conflict and the factors that effect the magnitude of the conflict. The information will also help us to determine the degree of the congestion.
Finally, we asked for his opinion about the possible solutions we had already thought of and if he had any recommendations to add.
The interview with the police officer was similar to the interview with the security guard. The police officer was asked questions regarding the history of the conflict at the shopping centre and possible solutions to the conflict. The purpose and the intended uses of the historical questions and the responses were the same as discussed above for the security guards. He was also asked to evaluate the possible solutions we had at that point and if he had any further ideas for possible solutions.
32 4. Results
Upon arrival in London, the project team started gathering data that would help to determine the nature of the problem at the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping
Centre, in order to provide an analysis that would lead to possible solutions to reduce the pedestrian congestion. As explained in our methodology chapter, we gathered data using the following methods: archival research, observations, surveying and interviewing. In this chapter, we present and discuss all the data gathered.
Background research results
In our effort to gather background information that would help us better to understand the nature of the problem, the team attempted to obtain the architectural urban plans of the area around the Wimbledon Town Centre. These plans would help us visualise the area and the points of congestion. We went to the Merton Civic
Centre and looked at the plans. We obtained the name of the company that owns the plans, which is Stanley Bragg Architects, and the drawing No. 4401/AP (P) 100 Rev.
"E" dated 10/01/97. We were given the drawer ID, Drawer PJ, as well as a telephone number where we could contact the architects to obtain permission to give a copy to us. However, as a result of time constraints we did not attempt to obtain permission for their release.
The team then focused its efforts in trying to recover past newspapers from the
Civic Centre library in order to have an overview of the history of the problem. Our research focused on the Mitcham and Wimbledon Guardian newspapers. However, due to the fact that the library had sent most of the issues to get microfilmed, we had only a limited amount of newspapers to review. Therefore, we got in contact with the
Newspaper department of the British Library but we faced again with the same
33 situation. Finally, we called the publisher to see if they could make any issues available to us but they had just got rid of last year's issues. A list of the issues reviewed is in Appendix B.
The issue of Mitcham Guardian from 25 th of November, 1999 presented us with an article that reports on the ongoing efforts of the London Borough of Merton to reduce the violent activities that have been taking place around the Shopping Centre and clear the bus stops from student crowds. According to the article, the solution suggested by a group consisting of travel bosses, Merton Council Officers, head- teachers and police officers, was to allow students to access the tram with their current bus pass. However, Tramtrack and London Transport, the companies that run the tram and buses respectively, rejected this recommendation. If the students buy their tram pass from London Transport, then Tramtrack will not see any benefits from that purchase and vice-versa. On the other hand, if the companies remain independent, students who wish to use the tram between the Wimbledon and Merton Park will face an increase of only £0.20 per week while those using it beyond Merton Park will face an increase of £.1.70 per week. The article leaves the situation open to further recommendations. A copy of the article is in Appendix B.
Continuing our efforts to obtain data that would help us in our research, we
went at the Merton Civic Centre and gathered the bus schedules and routes of the 57,
93, 131, 200, 219, 163, 164, and 156 buses, printed by London Transport and United
London, the companies that operate these routes. We also obtained a booklet, which
contained a map illustrating the street plan of the area of the Borough of Merton. The
booklet also contained an index with all major roads and an easy guide for locating
them in the map. All of these materials will help us visualise the problem
geographically.
34 Observation Results
In our effort to answer our research questions concerning the source of the problem, we observed the three bus stops located outside the shopping centre. The first bus stop is located immediately in front of the entrance on Wimbledon Bridge
Street. The second bus stop is located on the same street but closer to the Wimbledon
Station. The third stop is located across the shopping centre on Hartfield road. A copy of a map showing in detail the three stops is in Appendix B. As a result of these observations, we were able to create two categories of graphs for each bus stop. The first category consists of graphs presenting the number of students gathering in the area of the shopping centre by time of the day. The second category consists of graphs presenting the number of students from each school according to the number of the bus they are using. The days during which we did observations are the following: 17 th th of May 2000, from the 22nd of May until the 25 th of May 2000 and of May 2000, 19 on the 8 th and 9th of June 2000. On a typical Thursday, Ricards Lodge is dismissed at
2:10p.m. instead of 3:35p.m. as in the rest of the days and on a typical Friday,
Ursuline Covent and Wimbledon College are dismissed at 1:40p.m. instead of
3:30p.m.. In addition, on a Friday, a few other schools in the area also get out earlier.
Therefore, we conducted two more days of follow up observations, one was a
Thursday and the other one was a Friday in order to be able to graphically represent averages for each one.
The first category of graphs represents the number of students arriving in and leaving from the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre at 15 min intervals. We tabulated these results in order to determine which schools most of the students come from and the peak hours during which they arrive/leave the area.
35 Example:
Arriving at Bus Stop #1 on the 17th of May
60
50 —*—ARRIVING
Wimbledon ts
n 40 —0—ARRIVING School
de Ursuline 30 ARRIVING School
f Stu Riccard's 20 # o —x—ARRIVING School 10 Other
0 - 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 4:30 Time (pm)
Figure 2: Graph of the number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, from data gathered on 17th of May 2000 at Bus Stop #1.
Leaving at the first bus stop on the 17th of May
—4— LEAVING Wimbledon —I— LEAVING School Ursuline LEAVING School Riccarcfs - -X— LEAVING School Other
3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 Time (pm)
Figure 3: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, from data gathered on 17th of May, 2000 at Bus Stop #1
The second category of graphs represents the number of students arriving and
leaving the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre versus the bus number they use
for travel. These "arriving" graphs illustrate the most popular buses for the students to
take from their school to the shopping centre, and the "leaving" graphs show student
ridership from the shopping centre to their next destination. They also show how
many students from each school use buses as their means of transportation.
36 Examle:
Arriving at the first bus stop on the 17th of May
60
50 ts
n im beldon 40 rsu lin e
tude 30 OR icards f s 20 00 ther # o 10 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus #
Figure 4: Graph of the number of students from each school arriving by bus at Wimbledon Centre according to the number of bus they used, from data gathered on the 17th of May, 2000 at Bus Stop #1
Leaving from the first bus stop on the 17th of May
30
ts 25 • Wimbeldon n 20
de n Ursuline 15 0 Ricards Stu 10 f 0 Other 5 - # o 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 Bus #
Figure 5: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus from the Wimbledon Centre according to the number of bus they used, from data gathered on 17th of May, 2000 at Bus Stop#1
In both cases, each school has been marked with a different colour to facilitate
interpretation of the graph. In the "other", we have combined all the other schools in
the area. There are more than 15 schools in the area and the number of students from
these schools arriving/leaving the shopping centre is negligible in comparison to the
three schools represented separately on the graph. All the daily graphs are in
Appendix E-G.
37 From the daily data that we gathered, we were also able to create graphs that represent the average number of students on specific days of the week arriving in and leaving from the shopping centre for both categories. For each average graph, we took the total number of students from each school arriving/leaving the Centre Court
Shopping Centre every 15 min intervals and we divided it by the number of days during which we did the observations. Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the average number of students arriving in and leaving from the area of the shopping centre for the three first days of the week (Monday through Wednesday) for both categories. These days have been combined since the school leaving time is the same on Monday through
Wednesday.
Category I:
Monday through Wednesday Average Arriving by time of day
40
35
30
ts im bledon n 25
de U rsuline
tu 20 R iccard's f s 15 Other # o 10
5
0 2:45 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 4:30 time (pm )
Figure 6: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday.
Figure 6 represents an average of the number of students from each school arriving in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre by time of day. This represents the data gathered from the observation of bus Stop #1 during three days, from Monday 22nd of May 2000 to Wednesday 24th of May 2000. Different colours
38 represent different schools. Figure 6 illustrates that on average, more students from the Ursuline School arrive in the area by bus than from any other school. The second highest group is from Wimbledon College, then from Ricards Lodge, and finally from the other schools as a whole. Also, on average from Monday through Wednesday, the students start gathering in the area around 3:15p.m. and arrivals seem to decrease sharply by 4:15p.m..
Monday through Wednesday Average Leaving by time of day
25
t: 20 n W imbledon
de 15 Ursuline tu
f s 10 R iccard's
# o 5 X Other 0 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 4:30 time (pm)
Figure 7: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving by bus from the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday
Figure 7 represents an average of the number of students from each school leaving the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre by the time of day. As in the
Figure 6, this represents the data gathered from the observation of the bus Stop #1 over three days, from Monday 22nd of May 2000 to Wednesday 24 th of May 2000.
Similarly, Figure 7 illustrates that on average, more students from the Ursuline School leave the area of the shopping centre by bus than from any other school. Second highest number of students are from Wimbledon College, then from Ricards Lodge, and finally from other schools as a whole. Also, on average, most of the students start
39 leaving the area of the shopping centre after 3:45p.m. until around 4:30p.m. when only a few students remain outside the centre.
Category II:
Monday through Wednesday Average Arriving by bus route 60
50
ts 40 IMW im beldon n
de rsu line
tu 30 DR icards f s DO ther
# o 20
10
0 57 93 131 200 219 270
bus #
Figure 8: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at Wimbledon Centre by number of bus used, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday.
Figure 8 again represents the data gathered from the observations at bus Stop
#1 over three days, from Monday 22nd of May 2000 to Wednesday 24th of May 2000, only now the results are presented by bus route. Figure 8 illustrates that, on average, the students from Ursuline Covent are the most frequent users of buses to travel from their school to the Centre Court Shopping Centre. Figure 8, shows that most students from Ursuline Covent arrive at the shopping centre using buses 57 and 131. The students from Wimbledon College are almost equally distributed on 57, 93, 131, and
200 when they travel to the centre. Most students from Ricards Lodge that use the buses to arrive in the centre, use the 131 bus and very few of them use buses 90 and
200. Finally, students from the other schools in the area that use the buses as means of transportation to arrive at the area, use buses131 and 93 and a very small number uses
40 200. It may also be noted that no students from any school use buses 219 and 270 to travel from their schools to the shopping centre.
Monday through Wednesday Average Leaving by bus route
30
25
ts EWimbeldon n 20
de n Ursuline
tu 15 o Ricards f s 10 q 0ther # o 5
0 1.n•n••n•n• 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus #
Figure 9: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by the number of bus used, on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday
Figure 9 represents the average of the data gathered during the same three days
(22/05 — 24/05). The graph shows that most students from Ursuline Covent leave the shopping centre using buses 93 and 200, some use 57 and 219 and very few use buses
270 and 131. Most of the students from Wimbledon College take the 93 bus, some take 200 and 57 for their next destination, and very few take buses 131 and 270 for
their travel. Most students from Ricards Lodge that use the buses as means of
transportation use the 57 and 200 buses. Some of them use buses 93 and 219, while
very few of them use buses 131 and 270. Finally, students from the other schools in
the area that use the buses as means of transportation after they leave the area of the
shopping centre, use buses 219 and 93, some use the 57 bus and a very small number
uses 131, 200 and 270. Finally, may also be noted that 131, 219 and 270 are the buses
that are in general used the least by the students.
41 All the previous graphs refer to the arriving in and leaving from the area of the
Centre Court Shopping Centre on a Monday through Wednesday average of our data from the first bus stop. In addition, we separately averaged in the same way the data on Thursdays, and on Fridays at bus Stop #1, since on these days certain schools get out earlier. Below are the arriving and leaving graphs for Thursdays, and then for
Fridays.
Category I:
Average for Thursdays Arriving by time of day
40
35 ts
n 30 Wimbledon 25 de U rsuline
tu 20 R iccard's
f s 15 10 Other # o 5 0
<0 0 . <0 0 . <0 .<50 <0 0 Figure 10: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Thursday Figure 10 represents an average of the number of students from each school arriving in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre by time of day. This represents the data gathered from the observation of bus Stop #1 during two days, Thursday 25 th of May 2000 and Thursday 8 th of June 2000. Figure 10 illustrates that, on average, more students from the Ursuline School arrive in the area than from any other school on Thursday. Second highest is the number of students from Wimbledon College, then that from the other schools as a whole and finally from Ricards Lodge. Also, we may observe that even though only one school is dismissed earlier than the 42 rest, on a typical Thursday, students from all schools start arriving in the area of the shopping centre earlier, from approximately 1:30p.m. until around 3:45p.m.. Average for Thursdays Leaving by time of day 20 ts n 15 --*—Wimbledon de Ursuline tu 10 Riccard's f s 5 Other # o 0 0 <0 0 <0 0 <0 0 <0 0 0 <0 . .I>, .\ .<5 .1), .\ .1),D N• • N (t/ (// (// (b• (h• (b• (ID• t>, ' time (pm) Figure 11: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Thursday Figure 11 represents an average of the number of students from each school leaving from the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre by time of day. This represents the data gathered from the observation of bus Stop #1 during two days, on Thursday 25 th of May 2000 and on Thursday 8 th of June 2000. Figure 11 illustrates that on average students from the Ursuline School and Ricards Lodge both leave the area on buses in significant numbers at certain times on a typical Thursday. Second highest is the number of students from Wimbledon College, and then from other schools. Also, we may observe that even though only one school is dismissed earlier that the rest on a typical Thursday, most of the students start leaving from the area of the shopping centre approximately after 2:15p.m. on this day until around 4:15p.m.. 43 Category II: Average for Thursday Arriving by bus route 60 50 ts n 40 IOW imbeldon de rsuline tu 30 cards f s 20 q Other # o 10 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus # Figure 12: Graph of the number of students from each school arriving at the Wimbledon Centre by the number of bus used, on a typical Thursday In connection with Figures 10 and 11, Figure 12 represents the data gathered from the observation of the first bus stop during two days, on Thursday 25 th of May 2000 and on Thursday 8 th of June 2000 only now by bus route. This graph again illustrates that, on average, students from Ursuline Covent are the most frequent users of the buses to travel from their school to the Centre Court Shopping Centre. The next highest number of students are from Wimbledon College, then from the other schools in the area, and finally from Ricards Lodge. Figure 12 shows that most of the students from Ursuline Covent arrive at the shopping centre using the buses 57 and 131. A smaller number of Ursuline students uses the 200 bus and even fewer use 219. Most of the students from Wimbledon College use bus 131, while some students also use the 200, 93 and 57 buses for travelling to the centre. Most students from Ricards Lodge that use the buses to arrive in the centre use the 93 bus and very few of them buses 131 and 57. Finally, students from the other schools in the area that use the 44 buses as means of transportation to the area, equally use buses 131 and 57. It may also be noted that no students from any school use the 270 bus to travel from their schools to the shopping centre. Average for Thursday Leaving by bus routes 30 25 ts 20 OW im beldon den BEI U rsu line 15 tu R ic a rd s 10 Other # of s 5 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus # Figure 13: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving the Wimbledon Centre by number of bus used, on a typical Thursday Figure 13 represents the average of the data gathered from the observation of bus Stop #1 during two days, on Thursday 25 th of May 2000 and on Thursday 8 th of June 2000, as previously mentioned above. The graph shows that most of the students from Ursuline Covent leave from the shopping centre using the 93 bus, some use the 200 and the 57 and very few use buses 270 and 219. Most of the students from Wimbledon College take the 57 bus, some take 200 and 93 for their next destination, and very few take buses 131, 219 and 270 for their travel. Most students from Ricards Lodge that use the buses as means of transportation to their next destination use the 57 bus, and some of them use 93, 200 and 219. Finally, students from the other schools in the area that use the buses as means of transportation when leaving the area of the shopping centre, use buses 200, 270 and 57, and a very small number uses bus 45 93. We may also note that only Wimbledon College students are using the 131 bus, on an average Thursday. We followed the same procedure for the creation of the graphs for both categories, to illustrate the average of the data gathered from our observations on the two Fridays, 19th of May 2000 and 9 th of June 2000. On a typical Friday, Ursuline Covent and Wimbledon College are dismissed at 1:40p.m. instead of 3:30p.m. and a few other schools in the area get out earlier as well. Category I: Average of Friday Arriving by time of day 60 50 ts n im bledon 40 de 11. Ursuline tu 30 Riccard's f s 20 'Other # o 10 0 0 0 Q <0 Q <0 Q <0 Q <0 Q) ) t>,() .t)k •Q) •'\ PO .1)k •I\ \ • \ • '•\ • 'V 'V 'V ()). `b . 'b . ())• time (pm) Figure 14: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Friday Figure 14 represents an average of the number of students from each school arriving in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre versus time. This represents the data gathered from the observation of the bus Stop #1 during two days, Friday 19th of May 2000 and Friday 9 th of June 2000. Figure 14 illustrates that, on average, more students from the Ursuline School arrive in the area on buses than from any other school on a typical Friday. The number of students that come in the area from Wimbledon College is the second highest, followed by the number of students from the other schools in the area as a whole. Ricards Lodge High School has the smallest 46 number of students arriving in the area. Also, we may observe that since two of the schools under study finish earlier on Friday, the peak hours during which the congestion starts shifts to an earlier time in comparison to other days. According the graph above, on Fridays, students start coming in the area around 1:30p.m. and the activity starts decreasing around 2:30p.m.. Average of Friday Leaving by time of day 20 ts 15 n imbledon de U rsuline tu 10 R iccard's 5 —x--- Other # of s 0 Figure 15: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Friday Figure 15 represents an average of the number of students from each school leaving from the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre versus time. This represents the data gathered from observations of the bus Stop #1 during two days, on Friday 19th of May 2000 and Friday 9 th of June 2000. Figure 15 illustrates that on average, more students from the Ursuline School leave the area of the shopping centre on buses than from any other school. The number of students leaving the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre by bus from Wimbledon College and Ricards Lodge are similar in number but concentrated in different times of day. Also, students start leaving the area of the shopping centre after 2:00p.m. on a Friday until around 4:00p.m., but the number of students for each school peaks at different times. 47 Category II: Average for Friday Arriving by bus route 120 100 - ts OWimbeldon n 80 de n Ursuline tu 60 EIRicards 40 q 0ther # of s 20 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus # Figure 16: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by number of bus used, on a typical Friday In connection with Figures 14 and 15, Figure 16 represents the data gathered from the observation of the bus Stop #1 during two days, Friday 19 th of May 2000 and Friday 9 th of June 2000 only now by bus route. This graph also illustrates that students from Ursuline Covent are the most frequent users of the buses to travel from their school to the Centre Court Shopping Centre. Figure 16 shows that most of the students from Ursuline Covent arrive at the shopping centre using the 57 bus, a smaller number of Ursuline students use the 131 bus and even fewer students use the 200 and 93 ones. Students from Wimbledon College seem to be using buses 57,131 and 200 in almost equal proportion to get into the area. Most students from the other schools in the area that use the buses to arrive in the centre, use the 131 bus and very few of them use buses 200, 93 and 57. Finally, the very few students from Ricards Lodge that use the bus as a means of transport to arrive, use buses 93 and 219. It can also be noted that no students use the 270 bus in order to arrive in the area of the 48 shopping centre. Also, the 219 bus is being used only from the Ricards Lodge students. Average for Friday Leaving by bus route 30 25 ts n OWimbeldon 20 de 0 Ursuline tu 15 q Ricards f s 10 q 0ther # o 5 - 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus # Figure 17: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by the number of bus used, on a typical Friday. Figure 17 represents the average of the data gathered from the observation of bus Stop #1 during two days, Friday 19 th of May 2000 and Friday 9 th of June 2000. The graph shows that most of the students from Ursuline Covent leave from the shopping centre using the 93, 57 and 200 buses and very few use buses 270 and 219. Most of the students from Wimbledon College take the 57 bus, some take 200 and 93 for their next destination, and very few take buses 131, 219 and 270 for their travel. Most students from Ricards Lodge that use buses as a means of transport to their next destination use the 219 bus and some of them use 93, 57 and 200. Finally, students from the other schools in the area that use the buses as means of transport when leaving the area of the shopping centre, use buses 200, 93 and 57, and a very small number uses bus 131 and 219. We may also note that no students from Ursuline or Richards Lodge use the 131 bus and that the 270 bus is not being used by any students from Ricards or from other any other school. All the graphs above (Figures 2-17) constitute the data that we gathered during eight days of observations at the first bus stop located immediately outside the Centre 49 Court ShoppingCentreinWimbledon observations duringthesedaysatthe Wimbledon Centre.Inthissectionwehaveconcentratedonpresentingthedatafrom negligible incomparisontobusStop#1,asshownFigure18.Graphsrepresenting Stop #1becausethenumberofstudentsthatusesecondandthirdbusstopsis all ofour for theirtravel. Figure 18:Graphofthenumberstudentsfromeachschoolbybusstoptheyusemost Surveys of thestudentsinareaoutsideCentreCourt ShoppingCentre.Thedata gathered fromthesurveyswillenableustoobtain the of the problem. Based onourproceduresdescribedinmethodology, weconductedsurveys observations ateachstopare # o f stude nts ( throug h obs ervation) 180.00 160.00 140.00 120.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 Stop #1 Stop #vs.School stop # Stop #2 second andthirdbusstopsin Bridge included in 50 Street. Inasimilarway,wemade Stop #3 Appendix E-G. students' opinion the areaof MUrsuline 111Wimbledon DRicards q Other of thenature Demographics of population surveyed Ages of the population surveyed Figure 19: Graph illustrating the ages of the population surveyed. Of the population surveyed, only 3% of the students were 12 years old, 15% were of age 13, 33% were of age 14, 23% were 15 years old and 26% were 16 years old. The following graph is a representation of their ages. The percentage of the 12 years old ones is so small because our team felt that students of this age do not represent part of the population that we are interested in. In addition, 65% of our sample were female and only 35% of them male, as the graph below indicates. This is because two out of the three schools under study are all female schools (Ursuline and Ricards Lodge) and only one is all male (Wimbledon College). Therefore, these percentages are a close representation of the gender of the students that are present in the area. Gender of population surveyed. Male L Figure 20: Graph illustrating the number of males and females surveyed 51 School of Population surveyed q Wimbeldon Ursuline q Ricards q Other 48.68% Figure 21: Graph of the percentage of students surveyed from each school. The first question of the survey asked for the name of the school they attend. The following graph demonstrates that approximately 49% of the population surveyed attends Ursuline Covent, 25% Wimbledon College, 18% Ricards Lodge and 9% some other school in the Wimbledon area. This distribution of students from these schools was chosen as the sample for our survey to match the distribution by school in our observation of all students on the buses. We believe that this represents the population of the students that gather in front of the shopping centre. 52 Arrival the studentsofeachschool. Figure 22:GraphillustratingthemeansoftransportationusedtogetWimbledonCentreby Centre CourtShoppingCentre.Accordingtothegraphbelow,of80people surveyed, approximately 47% ofthestudentsfromWimbledon site, 47%ofthemarrivebytrainand31%walktothesite.Incontrast,85% Wimbledon area,67%takethebustosite,10% arrivebycar,10%train students fromUrsulineCoventtakethebustosite,andonly15%walk.Moreover, students arrivebytrain,and and 13%walk. cY0 o f Stu de nts The secondquestionwasaskingfor 100% 60% 90% 40% 50% 70% 80% 20% 30% 10% 0% How doyouusuallyarriveatthecentre? Ricards 22% ofthe 20% walk.Ofthestudentsthatattend Ursuline students fromRicardsLodgetakethebusto School College takethebustosite,33% Wimbledon 53 the meanswithwhichtheyarriveat Other other schoolsinthe NNW alk EIBike •Bus DCar q Train of the Reasons for coming Why do you usually come to the centre? Other ocialize 63% Figure 23: Graph illustrating the reasons for students gathering in the area of the Wimbledon Centre The third question of the survey referred to their reason for gathering in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. According to the graph below 63% of the population interviewed gathered in the area to socialise, 27% of the students to commute/change buses and 9% of them to shop. Finally, 1% of the students provided answers that did not fit into these categories. Departure Where do you go next? Other 1`)/0 Work Home 95 0/0 Figure 23: Graph illustrating the means of transportation the students use to get to their destination 54 The next question concerned their destination after they left the Centre Court Shopping Centre. From the graph below we may observe that 95% of the population questioned went home after they left the shopping centre, and only a 4% of them went to work. In addition, 1% of the students asked, stated something different than the options that they were given. How do you get to your next destination? q Walk 100% q Train 80% TL1 ts ▪ n q 219 de 60% NI 200 Stu f 40% q 164 % o 20% n 163 q 156 C)°/0 q 131 Ricards Ursuline Wimbledon Other • 93 School m 57 Figure 24: Graph illustrating the destination of the students after they leave Wimbledon Centre The next question on our survey was about the number of bus that the students take to get to their next destination. The graph below and the following statistics present these results. Ricards Lodge students: 17% take the 57 bus to their next destination, 36% of them take the 93 bus, 8% take the 156 bus, 18% take the 200 bus, 9% take the 219 bus and 4% take the TL1 bus. Only, 8% of the students walk home. Ursuline Covent students: 17% take the 57 bus, 49% take the 93 bus, 7% take the 131 bus, only 2% take the 156 bus to their next destination, 15% take the 200 bus and 4% 55 take the 219 bus. In addition, a 6% of the students takes the train to get to their next destination. Wimbledon College students: 10% take the 57 bus, a 26% take the 93 bus, and 14% the 131 bus, only a 3% take the 164 bus, a 22% of the students take the 200 bus and a 7% of them takes the 219 bus to their next destination. In addition, 18% takes the train after they leave from the Centre Court Shopping Centre. The students that attend any other school in the area: 20% takes the 57 bus to go to their next destination, 33% takes the 93 bus, 38% takes the 200 one and a 10% of them take the 219 bus after they leave from the shopping centre. It should be noted that 93 is the bus most heavily used by the students. The 200 bus is the next most popular one for the student population, followed by bus 57. Destination Ursuline Covent Destination by Post Code Invalid CR0 CR4 Response 3% SW 20 9% 9 % KT7 3% SM3 F 3% 6% SM4 6% SW 6 0% SM6 SW 19 0% 35% SW8 SW 18 6% SW 9 0% SW 16 9% 9% SW 15 SW 11 3°/. SW 17 0% 0% Figure 26: Graph Illustrating the destination area of Ursuline Convent 56 Wimbledon College Destination by postcode Invalid Response 5 0/0 CR0 (CI% SW20 CR4 SW19 0% 21% KT7 SW 18 -11 0/0 5% 0 0/0 SW17 SM3 5 0/0 5% SM4 SW16 11 0/0 16 0/0 SW 15 SM6 SW6 5% 0% SW9 SW11 5% 5(D/0 5 0/0 SW8 0% Figure 24: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the students from Wimbledon College after they leave from Wimbledon Centre In order to be able to understand the origin and destination of the students, our survey asked them to state the postal code of the area where they go next. As we can see from the graph below, 35% of the students that attend Ursuline Covent go to the area with post code SW 19, 9% of the students go to post code SW 16, 9% of the students go to SW9, and another 9% of them goes to CR4. Furthermore, 6% of the students go to post code SW8, 6% of the students that go to Ursuline Covent go to the area with post code SW4 and another 6% go to SW3. 3% of the students go to SW15, 3% of the students go to the area with post code KT7, and 3% of them go the area that has post code CRO. In addition we have a 9 % of students from Ursuline Covent that gave us inaccurate answers. 57 We followed the same procedure for the other two schools under study and obtained the following results. For Wimbledon College the graph below, illustrates that 21% of the students go to the CR4 post code, 16% goes to the area with post code SW16. In addition, 11% of them go to SM4 and another I I% goes to the area with post-code SW-19. 5% of the students gave us inaccurate answers. Other postcodes are shown in the graph. Ricards Lodge Destination by postcode SM3 0% Invalid Response KT7 8% CR0 CR4 0% SW 20 0% 8% 0% SW 19 SM4 42°0 33% SW 9 0% SW 16 0% SW 18- SW 6 0% SW 11 0% 0% SW 17 SM6 8% 0% SW 15 SW 8 0°0 0% Figure 25: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the students from Ricards Lodge after they leave from Wimbledon Centre For Ricards Lodge, the graph below demonstrates that 42% of the students go to the area that has SW 19 as a postcode after they leave from the Centre Court Shopping Centre. In addition, 33% of the students go to the area with post code SM4, 8% go to SW 17, another 8% to CR4 and finally a 8% of the students gave us inaccurate answers. 58 Other Schools Destination by postcode Invalid Response 0% SW 20 0% CR0 KT7 CR4 0% 0% 13% SM 3 0% SM4 13% SW 6 0% SW 19 SW 8 50% 0% SW SM 6 13% 0% SW 11 SW 18 0% 0% SW 17 SW 15 SW 16 13% 0% 0% Figure 26: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the students from the other schools For the students that attend other schools in the area the following graph illustrates that 50% of the students go to the area that has SW19 as a post code and 13% of them go to CR4. In addition, 13% of these students go to an area with post code SM4, another 13% go to SW9 and finally the rest 13% of the students go to the area with post code SW 17. All the postcodes of the area are identified and marked on a regional map for their analysis in the following section. Time at the shopping centre How long do you stay on the site? 0 Less than 15min. El 15min. to 30min. 0 More than 30min. 0 More than 1 hr. 0 26° Figure 27: Graph illustrating the time students spend in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. 59 Another question in our survey concerned the length of time that they spend in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre on an average day. As it can be seen from the graph below, 32% of the students stay there from 15 to 30 min., 26% stay at the shopping centre for more than 30 min. and 31% of the students spend more than an hour at the Centre Court Shopping Centre. Only 11% of the students that come in the area of the shopping centre stay there for less than 15 min. Tramlink Figure 28: Graph illustrating the percent of the students surveyed that had knowledge upon the operation of the tramlink We also asked the students whether or not they knew that the tram-link is operational. According to the graph below, 75% of the students that congregate in the area know about its operation and only 25% of them don't. The tramlink had opened for passengers in the week before we conducted our survey. 60 If the tram-link passed through the area of your destination would you take it? Figure 29: Graph illustrating the willingness of the students to take the tramlink to go to their next destination. In combination to the question in Figure 31, we asked the students to tell us whether they would use the tram-link, if it passed through the area of their next destination. As we can see from the graph below, 25% of the students said that they would not take it and 75% of them said they would. The reason for including these two question to our survey was to determine if the very recently opened tramlink would help in relieving the congestion in this area. Students opinion on the problem at the shopping centre Do you think there is a problem in the area of the Shopping Centre? Yes 430/0 No 57% Figure 30: Graph illustrating the percentage of the students surveyed that think there is a problem in the area of the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre 61 In order to understand the problem and gather further recommendations for its resolution, we decided to include a question asking the students to state their opinion on whether or not they believe there is a problem in the area. From the graph below we can see that 43% of the students surveyed believe there is a problem in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre while 57% of them did not think that there is a problem in the area. Students' opinion on the problem at the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre 3 0/0 q Too crowded Ill Not enough space q Security guards/police 21% officers q Fights E Improper behavior q Not enough people El Shop lifting Figure 31: Graph illustrating students' opinion on the problem in the are of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. We asked the students that answered positively in the previous question, 43% of the surveys, to state what they thought the problem. According to the graph below, 37% of the students thought that the area is too crowded, 21% that there were a lot of fights, and 21% that there were too many security guards and police officers that did not allow them to do what they wanted. Also, 9% of the students who answered this question said that there is not enough space for them to socialise, and 6% said that 62 there are not enough people in the area. Finally, 3% of the students said that there is a problem of shoplifting, and another 3% said that some other students behave improperly. Recommendations of the students q I don't know Effl Not to allow certain people in the area q Have students from different schools come in the area at different times q Build more shops/night clubs 79% n Have more police officers in the area Figure 32: Graph illustrating students' recommendations on the problem Furthermore, we asked them to express any recommendations they had for the elimination and/or resolution of the problems in the area. As we can see from the graph below, 79% of the students didn't know what could be done to improve the situation, 6% of the students suggested enforcing restrictions that would not allow certain people to come to the area, 9% suggested that the area needs more shops and places where people can socialise such as night-clubs. Furthermore, 3% of the students suggested having schools dismiss at different times of the day, and another 3% having more police officers present in the area. All of these recommendations will be taken into consideration and will be analysed in the chapter that follows. 63 Interviews Our third source of gathering the necessary data for our project was interviews with people that were closely related to the subject of congestion outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre. In one of our first meetings, Mr. Eddie Taylor, our liaison, suggested that we should talk to Mr. Ray Puddy to get his input on the nature of the problem since he has done previous research on the issue. The interview with Mr. Puddy, the principal engineer of the environmental department at the Civic Centre, yielded a number of results that proved to be extremely helpful when we were conducting the rest of the research. He provided us with a map of the area of the Borough of Merton, where he marked the routes of the three buses that are used most heavily by the students in the area. He also showed us the location of the three schools under study, Ricards Lodge, Ursuline Covent and Wimbledon College. He gave us a map that illustrated in detail the area immediately around the Centre Court Shopping Centre, including the three bus stops where we did our observations. A copy of this map is on Appendix B. He also provided us with further, more detailed bus schedules and timetables. He told us that according to his experience and research, students seem to use buses 57, 200 and 131 to go from their schools to the shopping centre and buses 163, 164, 93 and 219 to go from the Centre Court Shopping Centre to their next destination, which is usually their home. He also gave us a contact at the London Transport, the company that runs most of the buses in the area, who might be able to provide more information on the number of people that are getting on the buses. He talked to us about the recently opened tram-link, and expressed the hope that it would absorb people from the area and contribute to relieve some of the congestion. In addition, he provided us with all the postal codes around the area of the shopping centre in an 64 effort to assist us with the analysis of the survey results. A list of the postal codes is in Appendix B. Finally, we presented to him the recommendations that we had gathered up to that date, and asked him his opinion on whether he believed any of them could be implemented. He told us that the idea of running special buses that would take the students from their schools straight to their residential areas is a very good idea and it can definitely be implemented. However, this is a new idea for the UK and nothing similar has been implemented to any school before. The only problem with this idea would be the fact that the bus could not pick up the students that go to Ricards Lodge right outside their school, since the street there was narrowed a few years ago to prevent big trucks from passing through that area. He also liked the idea of creating a building where the students could go to socialise as a long-term solution. However, something like that would require a long time of planning, money and space. The suggestion of making the schools finish at different times didn't seem as a good solution to him since he believes the students will still wait for their friends to come to the centre to socialise. Re-routing the buses and/or re-scheduling the bus timetables didn't seem to him as solutions that could solve the problem. In addition, he said that moving the bus stop away from the shopping centre might cause inconvenience to the rest of the pedestrians since they would have to walk more when going from the train station to catch the bus. In concluding our interview, he also mentioned another long-term solution that may eventually be implemented, moving the bus stops immediately outside the shopping centre to a new platform built above the train station. This is an idea that officers at the Civic Centre have come up with, and that will be implemented in the long run after the necessary planning and research is conducted and funds are raised. 65 All these advantages and disadvantages that he gave us were used to revise and evaluate our recommendations and determine those most likely to be implemented. After the completion of our observations, we also wanted to ask for the opinion of the security guards at the shopping centre who are usually standing outside at the time of congestion. Mrs. Dawn Field said that the problem has been more intense for the last two years due to the ages of the students and their need to socialise. She believes the problem is terrifying many pedestrians and even some students themselves feel isolated. She mentioned that within the last two years, students had pushed two old ladies, who fell and broke their hips. The people who complain the most are those who are trying to get into the shopping centre, especially the elderly and mothers with young children or babies. We also presented Mrs. Fields our possible recommendations at the time and asked for her opinion. She believed that ideally school buses should run to take the students straight from their schools to home, but this will be very hard to implement. A possible solution that she recommended was not to allow students to come to the area of the shopping centre in their school uniform. In that way, students would either have to go home first to change and then come to the area, which would take longer, be more trouble for them and or they would have to find a place to change their clothes first. Another source that we considered interviewing for gathering the data that would help us determine the nature of the problem, was a member of the police force. We wrote a letter to the Wimbledon Police Department, where we were describing who we area and the project we are working on, requesting to interview a police member that has previously dealt with the issue of the congestion outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre. We managed to get an appointment with Mr. Darin Birmingham, who as we found out, has been inspecting the area during the times of 66 congestion for the last two years. We asked his opinion on the matter and his recommendations for its resolutions. He characterised the congestion as "dreadful" for the pedestrians and the people that work in the area. He said that students' gathering there interferes with people and money spending. It is a meeting place for the students of all schools and that causes problems to the pedestrian flow. The students' attitude is hostile, non-compliant, aggressive towards other people and they have no respect for authority and for elderly people. He mentioned that the problem is getting more intense during the summer time when the weather is better and students are less disciplined. He talked about the complains of the shopkeepers, the managers of the businesses in the area and of the other pedestrians. He stressed that the complains were mostly because of the fights in the area and the aggressiveness of the students. He talked about the reports that have been in the past of girls carrying knives in the area, and behaving in a manner that can be proved dangerous for others. Also, he said that robberies, assaults and damages caused by the students are being reported almost on a daily basis. In addition, he raised the issue of these activities being a reflection of the society. He talked about students from lower socio-economic layers of the society coming in the area and lowering its level through their actions and behaviours. He said that foreign people that come in the area with good intentions carrying the traditions and ethics of their cultures, when they start adopting the British culture, they lose respect for others and get corrupted. He also mentioned that when they are forced by the circumstances to arrest students, their parents show no concern and fail to see their "deficiencies in upbringing". In addition, he believes the area needs more police officers and security guards to protect it. He mentioned that there are only two cars driving around the area and only two officers inspecting the area. Towards the end of our conversation, he recommended certain solutions that he thought would 67 help in the resolution of the congestion in the area. He suggested that the police force should work closely with the schools for the firmer control of the students in the area. He suggested having teachers coming in the area monitoring students' behaviour and keeping them disciplined until they leave. This would make the students behave in a more proper manner since they will be afraid to face the consequences of their actions the next day at school. Finally, he expressed his willingness to work on the resolution of the problem and he gave us a card where we can contact him for further information. When we reached the time in our project to make recommendations for the resolution of the problem, we thought it was necessary to get the insight of a representative from the London Transport, the company that runs the buses at the area outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre. Therefore, we got in contact with Mr. Dave McClellan, who has previously dealt with the problem of the congestion in the area of the shopping centre. Our main objective was to explore the possibilities of implementing some of our solutions that concern changes at the current bus system. From the discussion that we had, we got interesting information. Mr. McClellan talked about violent incidents that have occurred in the past, of students throwing bottles out of the bus windows and of 12 years old ones having been arrested. He stated that the phenomenon that occurs at the area of the Wimbledon Shopping Centre is not only local but also goes further on a nation wide level. He explained how for some students, that have to travel from 45 min to 1 hour everyday to go to school, "the bus becomes a playground" due to their short attention span. Their age contributes to the destruction factor that results in their disrespectful behaviour in a bus or at the area where they socialise. The said that there are three categories of students. The students that have always been trouble makers, the ones that are easily 68 laid people, get influenced easily and regard the trouble makers as heroes that they try to imitate, and finally the students with confidence to themselves that strongly oppose to the trouble makers' behaviour. He also explained how difficult it is for an adult to approach the students since the students regard him/her as an "outsider" who is trying to invade their lives, as someone that doesn't speak their own language and with who they have no relationship. He stressed how critical the students' input is on the issue and he talked about the pilot program, called " Bus Safety Awareness", that has been implemented at the schools in the area of Croydon. This program started in 4 out of the 30 schools in Croydon about 5 to 6 years ago and now there are more than 20 schools in the area that have adopted it. It targets the second group of students, the easy influenced ones, and is using peer-pressure to change the aggressive attitude of the students. They select around 10 to 15 senior students from each school and they make them experience everyday events that may be caused by the violent activities of students. For example, they put the students in the position of a bus driver at the time when students at the back make loud noises, behave improperly and cause trouble. Then the student, who is pretending to be the bus driver, is invited to face the situation and make his/her own decisions on how to approach it. The student also has the choice of calling a police officer. In that way, they have students experience what the bus drivers have to face on a daily basis due to students' improper behaviour. Then the staff of the program talks with the selected students and through the conversation they teach them how to be streetwise and do the right thing. Then these students tutor the students in early grades, mostly the 7 and 8 years old ones. In this way they achieve regenerating street language, creating a relationship between the students of early age with the older ones and through this group tutoring the seniors learn how to take responsibility and get prepared for being good citizens. However, this is only the 69 basic framework of the program and may be adaptable to the needs and facilities of each school. The teachers that are nominated to run it in the schools are free to make their own decisions of how to implement it and they can even make it fit into the school's curriculum. The program involves bus companies' staff, police officers, teachers and many more people that are willing to help in the education of students on the issue. Since the program has started in Croydon, the number of violent incidents has shown a major decline and the quality and nature of the training has ameliorated. They have also created a videotape, available at the museum of London Transport, where they show extreme scenarios in order to give powerful messages to the students. This program is going to be implemented in 5 schools in the area of Wimbledon after next Christmas. He also mentioned that currently they have started a campaign for informing the parents of their children's activities. They monitor the area outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre with CTV circuits and when a violent incident takes place, they invite the parents of the student(s) and show them the video. In that way, if parents are aware of their children's action, they will be willing to co- operate for the implementation of programs that will teach the students proper behaviour. On the same frame of ideas, as of next year, they will have 2 youth workers going to the schools, meeting the students and talking to them about the problem. When we asked him why they preferred a program like that rather than running special buses that would take the students from their schools to their residential areas, he replied: "due to the cost and ability to deliver". He also gave us a brief explanation of the history of the London Transport. However, Mr. McClellan mentioned that as of next year, they are hoping to have an express bus that will take students from Ricards Lodge going through Mitcham towards the outsides of the 70 Borough, letting only the students that leave in the centre of Wimbledon use the public transportation. This is due to the Age of Transfer and they are trying to find agencies to sponsor their efforts. We also asked for his opinion on creating different dismissal times for each school. He believes that the maximum period between each dismissal can only be limited up to 1/2 and hour, since they already have complains from the teaching union and from parents on the days the students are dismissed earlier. He said that there are all sort of constrains that need to be faced before the implementation of such and idea. Towards the end of our discussion, when Mr. McClellan was commenting on our solution of relocating the current Bus Stop #1 in front of the Wimbledon train station, he said that this would be hard to implement because this area currently works as a drop-off point for taxis and cars. In addition, the buses would block the intersection of High Street Wimbledon and Worple Rd. when they would stop to take people. This will cause great congestion in the area of Raynes Park, which is already sensitive, and more problems will be created. Also, its implementation may cause a "political battle" since the area is a Railway property and they will not want to give it up. All the recommendations given by the people interviewed will be taken into consideration when evaluating them and trying to determine the most efficient ones. This is presented in the chapter that follows. 71 5. Analysis of Data After collecting all the data for our project, our next step was to analyse the results in order to make recommendations to resolve the problem outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre. In this chapter, we are going to discuss what the nature of the problem is, what is the affect of the dismissal times on our problem, whether or not the means of transportation existing in the area help towards the decrease of the congestion, and finally how the activities of the students create conflicts. In addition, we will discuss the effect of the Age of Transfer to the congestion in the area of the shopping centre. Nature of the problem Our first step was to define what the existing problem is. Is it the fact that the students gather in the area outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre, or the time during which they gather there? Is it their behaviour or just the fact that they heavily congest the area and do not leave space for the other pedestrians? What is the source of the problem? Is this congestion created because of the location of Bus Stop #1 or just because the students want to socialise? In order to answer these questions for determining the nature of the problem, we needed to take into consideration the data gathered from the observations, the surveys and the interviews. 72 Why do you usudly comet° the south e? Other ocialize 63`V. Figure 24: Graph illustrating the reasons for students gathering in the area of the Wimbledon Centre After having surveyed the students gathering in the area we found out that most students come to the Wimbledon Shopping Centre to socialise, as viewed in Figure 29. Our qualitative observations and conversations with the students also show that the students are in the area of the shopping centre mainly to socialise as well as to get transportation home. This ties directly to the nature of the problem since it shows the motive behind the congestion. During our observations, we gathered information concerning the inflow and outflow of students that arrive by bus. We observed the pattern that is repeated on the weekdays in the area, of students congregating at the shopping centre after the schools are dismissed. They arrive using all means of public transportation, and an unknown number walk. They gather in front of the entrances of the shopping centre, obstructing other people from getting inside the building. The number of students in the area is large and the space available is not big enough to accommodate them. The pavements get extremely congested and the movement of pedestrians is obstructed. 73 The information gathered from the interviews confirmed our observations. The congestion created by the students was described as "terrifying for the pedestrians" by Mrs. Dawn Field, member of the security force outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre. She stated that mothers with babies as well as old ladies are afraid of walking in the area during the time of congestion. Even some students feel isolated because of the atmosphere created by students. In addition, Mr. Darin Birmingham, a police officer from the Wimbledon Police Station, characterised the congestion as "dreadful" and described it as "interfering with people and money spending." He also stressed its seriousness and the need for some action to be taken on the issue. The results of the surveys of the student population in the area also suggest that there has been a conflict between the authorities and the students. Many of the students who think there is a problem at the shopping centre claimed that it was caused by the presence of police officers and security guards. From the discussion of the degree of the congestion, two further aspects arise that need to be discussed concerning the nature of the problem. One of them is the time during which the congestion takes place. Is this really the main issue? Is it particularly inconvenient for a certain group of people? From our observations we discovered that from Monday to Wednesday, when all the schools in the area get out at the same time, the students arrive and leave the area of the shopping centre within approximately an hour (Figure 6). This shows that the congestion starts occurring suddenly, and it increases fast until it reaches a peak when the greatest number of students are on the site. Then it decreases quickly and the area returns to its normal pace. On the contrary, on an average Thursday and/or Friday, when some schools are dismissed earlier, the time of congestion seems to be more evenly spread out during a longer period of time (Figures 10 & 14 respectively). During this interval, one may 74 observe peak intervals during which a large number of students from a specific school arrive in the area. However, not many of these peaks coincide. Therefore, the potential for heavy congestion is reduced. Moreover, no survey or interview presented us with time being a major concern. All the data from the observations concerning the time issue will be discussed in further detail later in the chapter. However, what causes this congestion during that period of time? What is their real reason for gathering there? These are the two further issues that need to be discussed before reaching a conclusion about the nature of the problem. Is the location of the Stop #1 the cause of the problem? From our observations, we saw that most of the students arriving and leaving the area of the shopping centre use Stop #1. Consequently, big crowds of students are created around the stop causing inconvenience for the pedestrians. Also, the students sitting in front of the entrances of the shopping centre can see the buses that come towards that specific stop, so it is more convenient for them to stay there until the buses come. Then they run from the entrance to catch the bus at the stop. The students gather in the area to socialise and contribute to the congestion. We gathered data in our observations, surveys and interviews that specifically addressed the reasons behind the students gathering in the area. In the rest of the chapter we will examine each possible source of the problem separately and in detail, in order to determine its nature. We will also propose possible solutions that will help eliminate or completely face each factor. Effects of Time of Dismissal The schools that contribute most heavily to the congestion in the area have different finishing times on certain days. This presents a central question to be 75 addressed. Does the different school leaving time on certain days affect the problem of congestion outside the shopping centre? In order to answer this question, we first combined the graphs created from our observations of the average number of students arriving and leaving by time of day, for different days. From their analysis, we managed to approximate the period of time during which they stay in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. Then, we related these findings with the various school dismissal times that students follow on certain days. Finally, we related the total number of students from each school that stay in the area during the time of congestion with the previous analysis and we reached conclusions that lead us to possible solutions. There are three major schools that have alternate finishing times on certain days. These are Ricards Lodge, Ursuline Covent and Wimbledon College. On Table 1 below, are the alternate dismissal times and days in respect to the regular ones. School Regular Alternate Dismissal Times Dismissal Times Ricards Lodge 3:20 P.M. 2:10 P.M. (Thursday) Ursuline 3:30 P.M. 1:40 P.M. (Friday) Wimbledon College 3:30 P.M. 1:40 P.M. (Friday) Table 1: Table presenting the different times of dismissal for the three schools under study. The graphs created from the observations were separated into three respective groups: Monday through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. For our evaluation, we compared the number of students arriving and leaving the area on a day from Monday to Wednesday with that on a Thursday and on a Friday. From the observation of the student population in the area, we determined that the schools that influence the change more are Ricards, Ursuline and Wimbledon. Ursuline with the largest number of students in the area has the greatest influence on Thursday's data. 76 • Monday through Wednesday Average for Thursday Average Arriving by time of day Arriving by time of day 40 35 ..e• 30 Wimbledon Wrrbledon • 25 --M— Ursuline • Ursuline • 20 I:lc:cards • 15 Riccard's o 10 • Ober 4t —X— Other 5 0 t,< . .N .4: !S .4: PS t1= PPP 0 CP <° t, PY 0(1/ . 0(5' 0(5' 0cb . 0n3 . 0C 0 0 o"' o'`'4:9/ c9" ort" c9" o'b• Ob* Ob' cib* time time Figure 6: Graph of the average number of Figure10: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at students from each school arriving by bus at the the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical typical day from Monday through Thursday. Wednesday. Average for Friday Arriving by time of day 60 50 Wrribledon 40 ct V - Ursuline 2 30 Riccard's 20 O - Other 10 0 time Figure 14: Graph of the average number of students from each school arriving by bus at the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Friday Figures 6 and 10 demonstrate the arriving times of the students in the area of the shopping centre for a day from Monday through Wednesday and for Thursday respectively. One can clearly see that during the main hours of arriving on a Monday- Wednesday day, the time of congestion is one hour, from 3:25p.m. to 4:25p.m., yet on Thursday this period extends from 1:30p.m. to 3:45p.m.. One may notice that on both occasions, Ursuline students are more responsible for the congestion even though it follows the normal dismissal times for these days, than Ricards, which is the one that finishes early. However, Figure 14 demonstrates that on Friday when Ursuline and 77 Wimbledon College are dismissed at 1:40 p.m., students arrive at the Wimbledon Shopping Centre in large numbers after 1:45p.m.. ktnciay itroucji INxhesday At:raft fcr Thus* &gage Leaving by time ci clay LEaving tytkred cky 25 16 u) 14 —*—Wrrtle±n 20 Wrrtiectn 12 `1) 10 —g— Us ire v 15 Uralire 3 a 8 6 Roads Cl'. 10 Rccards "6 4 —x-- (fig 0 it 2 it 5 0 0 OaCO O33) 0a45 04:W C4:15 04:30 oa15 ci` . 01/ 01/ 01/ 01/ 05. 05. 05. 05. ON. Obe the title Figure 7: Graph of the average number of Figure 33: Graph of the average number of students from each school leaving by bus from students from each school leaving Wimbledon the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a Centre by time of day, on a typical Thursday typical day from Monday through Wednesday Aerage fa Friday Leming bytimed day 23 •15 Wrrtiezim —g— Usti irr 10 Ficcards O Qh3- 0 .1;! orz' ,o` orb tine Figure 15: Graph of the number of students from each school leaving by bus the Wimbledon Centre by time of day, on a typical Friday 78 The most important data are those that present the times, during which, students leave the shopping centre. This is because students, who wait to get on a bus, also contribute to the congestion. Figure 7 shows the times during which the students leave the area of the shopping centre on a typical day from Monday through Wednesday. It is usually within a one hour time span from 3:15p.m.-4:15p.m. when most of the student population is on the site. On Thursday (Figure 11) when Ricards is let out early, the peak periods when students leave the shopping centre are from 2:15p.m.-4:15p.m.. On Friday (Figure 15), students leave the shopping centre at several peaks from 1:45p.m.-4:00p.m.. On Fridays, when Ursuline Covent and Wimbledon College get out earlier, the first peaks of students leaving the area are of Ursuline and Wimbledon students, while Ricards students who are dismissed later, leave the area later than the rest. Once the arrival and departure times have been determined from the observation graphs, we need to approximate the period of time students spend on site every day, in order to determine the effect of time over the degree of congestion. To achieve an approximation of these intervals, we need to combine arriving and leaving times for each group of graphs. This means that during a day from Monday through Wednesday, the time the students are in the area, is from around 3:15p.m.-4:30p.m. (from the combination of Figures 6 & 7). However, on Thursdays the students are in the area from 1:30p.m.-4:15p.m. (from the combination of Figures 10 & 11) and on Fridays the students stay in the area from 1:30p.m.-4:00p.m. (from the combination of Figures 14 & 15). Once we know the intervals during which the students stay in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre, we need to relate them with the amount of students from each school that are present in the area during those periods. When looking at 79 the arriving times of each school throughout the three graphs some important points may be noted. Ursuline is the school with the most students; Mon.-Wed schedule presents the peak hours of arriving around 3:30p.m.-3:45p.m. with 40 students (Figure 6). On Thursday, Ursuline has similar arrival times as the previous days, with around 35 students at 3:45p.m. (Figure 10). Friday is the day that Ursuline finishes earlier and the peak is around 50-60 students from 1:45p.m.-2:00p.m. (Figure 14). Comparing this data with the leaving data for each day will clarify the effect of alternating finishing times. During Mon.-Wed, 35 students leave around 4:00p.m.-4:15p.m. (Figure 7). Thursdays has the same dismissal time but 26 students leave at the same period (Figure 11). On Friday, 2:15p.m. and 3:15p.m. are the peak hours of leaving, which is very strongly correlated to the earlier school dismissal time on Friday (Figure 15). When one views Ursuline alone one can see that the days the Ursuline students spend more time at the shopping centre are Monday-Wednesday. Thursday the students stay around 30 minutes between peak arriving and peak leaving but it does diminish. On Friday more students from Ursuline arrive and leave on buses, but more students leave earlier from the area of the shopping centre. To fully understand the relationship of this data one must study the other main schools, Wimbledon and Ricards. During Mon.-Wed., Wimbledon and Ricards have less influence than Ursuline as shown from Figure 6. Wimbledon students arrive around 3:45p.m. with a peak of 10-15 students; Ricards arrives at 4:00p.m. with around 10 students. The peak leaving times for the schools are within a 30 minutes range of each both with the similar number of students that arrived at the site. Thursday schedule is the day, when Ricards is dismissed earlier but no more than five students arrive at the site within the 15 minute time span (Figure 11). On the other hand, Wimbledon peaks around 3:45p.m. with around 20 students. Leaving time is 80 similar. Ricards peaks with a 2:30p.m. leaving of 11 students at 4:00p.m. with 13 students. Similar to those times is Wimbledon, leaving at both 2:15p.m. and 4:00p.m. with 6 students each. Friday is the day when Wimbledon is dismissed earlier along with Ursuline. Around 10 Wimbledon students arrive at 2:15p.m. and 5 students arrive from Ricards at 3:30p.m.. On Friday, leaving time is earlier, and only 8 Wimbledon students leave at 2:15p.m., while 15-20 Ricards students leave at 4:00p.m. Total Number of students Using Bus Stop #1/ week 250 200 ts n Ei Avg. Mon-Wed de 150 tu go Avg. Thur 100 f s q Avg. Fri # o 50 0 Wimbledon Ursuline Riccard's Other school Figure 36: Graph Illustrating the total number of students using Bus Stop #1/ week The total number of students at the peak hours of arriving and leaving are an important aspect of the data. One can see that as the week moves toward Friday, the number of students from Wimbledon and Ricards diminish, meaning that fewer go to the shopping centre. Ursuline students contribute a high number to the area throughout the week. On the other hand, as the week goes on the number of students leaving also increases. It is possible that students leave at an earlier time. This is because our observations only extend until around 4:30p.m. or 5:00p.m. and some students may be left inside the mall; by the end of the week they may not feel the need to stay at the site for that amount of time. 81 When one has all these arriving and leaving times in perspective, one thing is clear. On Friday, Ursuline and Wimbledon are dismissed earlier and this is the day with the least congestion throughout the time of observation. One can see that during Monday-Wednesday, the total congestion occurs during a one-hour period. On Friday and Thursday a larger number of students are in the area of the shopping centre, but the arrivals and departures are spread over a longer period of time. The conclusions made above lead us to a possible solution. This might be to have schools finish at alternate times every day. However, two choices are presented to us. If the schools were to change times there would be the same amount of congestion but during a longer time span, while if the times stay as they are, the congestion is concentrated during a shorter time frame. The Friday schedule could be the easiest to impose because it is the most effective, but one issue that needs to be addressed is whether the students leave earlier because of the schedule or because it is Friday as they begin their weekend early. A further factor that needs to be considered is the fact that a great number of students use alternate modes of transportation other than bus as obtained from our observations. It is unclear if permanently alternating the schedules would be a long-term solution. It would appear to offer a short-term solution to diminish the congestion. Combined with the possible integration of social workers, alternating the schedules will have a positive effect on the area because it will lower the amount of congestion at a given time by actually spreading out the congestion within a larger time span. However, tendency for students to congregate at the shopping centre and perhaps cause congestion will never totally disappear unless the students have a reason to go elsewhere to socialise. 82 Transportation: Buses and Tram An important step in our analysis is to determine the destination of the students being surveyed outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre, after they leave the area. In order to do so, we needed to examine the destination of the students from each school as a whole, as well as from each school separately. We used map representations to visualise their destination in relation to the current bus routes and reach conclusions that will lead to the recommendation of solutions. Total Amount of Students going to a specific destination 25 ts 20 n de 15 Stu 10 f 5 # o 0 Fl n C co co co co co co A N A (1' co cD GJ co co co .C\ • .§?7 \c•" Postal Code Figure 34: Graph illustrating the destination areas of the total number of students leaving the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre by bus Figure 34 represents the total number of students from all schools travelling to each destination area. Since some of the students did not know their postcodes, we were only able to obtain 73 out of 80 surveys with a final destination postcode. After having surveyed the students, we discovered that the most popular postcodes, for the students gathering in the area were SW 19, SM4, and CR4. 83 Map 1: This map illustrates the percentages of the students from all schools that go to the destinations shown by bus Based on the data from Figure 34, we created a map that illustrates the destinations of all students that use the bus for their travel from the Wimbledon Centre to their next destination. In that way, we were able to visualise their general directions. We can be almost certain that the majority of students go home after they leave from the shopping centre based on the percentages gathered during the student surveys, where 95% told us that they go home afterwards (Figure 23, pg. 58). Without taking into consideration the 8.75% of students that didn't want to state their postcode and the 6.25% of them that gave inaccurate answers, we may extract some interesting information from Map 1. We may see that the largest number of students live at Wimbledon, which means that using the means of public transportation for their travel is an easy and cheap way to commute. However, the majority of the 21.25 % students that use the buses for their travel home and live in the surrounding areas of 84 Wimbledon, are spread out mostly North and South of the Wimbledon Shopping Centre. The areas East and West of the centre don't seem to be residential areas of the students. Map 2: Map Illustrating the current bus routes in the area of Wimbledon Shopping Centre Taking a close look at map 2 that illustrates the areas where most of the students live and the routes of the four buses that are mostly used by them, we may see that students who leave close to Wimbledon can easily be accommodated by those buses. However, these routes accommodate mostly the West and East sides of the Borough while most of the students leave North and South of Wimbledon. That shows us that for the students who live in the surrounding areas, transportation seems to be harder. The students seem to have to change at least two buses in order to go home. In our effort to suggest solutions that would accommodate not only the pedestrians in the area of the shopping centre, but also the students, we though of privatising school transportation. If a few private buses went around the three major 85 schools of our study and picked up the students that live in the areas further away from Wimbledon, then the use of the public transport buses would be reduced to only the students that live in the centre of the Borough of Merton. In order to examine whether or not the implementation of such an idea is possible, we examined the data gathered from each school separately, concerning the destination of the students. -1 New, r ...*Asa.• • •,11, II el — C. „, _ Map 3: Map illustrating the destinations of the Ursuline Students that leave from the area of the Wimbledon Shopping Centre by bus From our previous discussion, we saw that more students from Ursuline contribute to the congestion in the area than from any other school. Map 3 shows the final destination by postal code of 34 students surveyed. It is important to note that most of them reach the areas of SW 19, SW 16, SW9, and CR4. If private transport were implemented, it would be crucial to cover these key areas for the better accommodation of the Ursuline students. 86 Map 4: Map illustrating the destination areas of the Wimbledon College student that leave from the area of Wimbledon shopping centre by bus Map 4 suggests that students from Wimbledon College, are scattered throughout most of the area of the Borough. However, one can see that the most popular areas are CR4, SW 16, SW 19, and SM4 of the eighty students surveyed. If private transport were implemented, it would be crucial to cover these key areas the better to accommodate of the Wimbledon College students. Map 5: Map illustrating the destination areas of the Ricards Lodge students that leave from the Wimbledon Shopping Centre by bus 87 Map 5 represents destination information for Ricards Lodge School. It is obvious that Ricards Lodge students are concentrated only in a few areas and seems to be more of a regional school. The most common destinations for Ricards Lodge girls are SW19, SM4, SW 17, and CR4of the eighty students surveyed. Again, if school bus transport were implemented, it would be crucial to cover these key areas for the better accommodation of the Ricards Lodge students. Map 6: Map illustrating possible directions for the routes of the private buses that will take the students from the schools to their residential areas. As suggested in the previous discussion, most Ursuline students live in the SW19, SW16, SW9, and CR4 areas, most Wimbledon College students live in the CR4, SW 16, SW 19, and SM4 areas and most of the Ricards Lodge students live in the SW 19, SM4, SW 17, and CR4 areas. As we may notice, SW 19, SW 16, SM4, CR4 and SW9 are the areas where most students go to after they leave from the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre. If we were to propose possible routes for the private buses that will take the students from the schools to their residential areas, we would recommend that they pass through these areas. An illustration of the routes 88 is shown in Map 6. However, further, more detailed study needs to be done before the implementation of such an idea. During this analysis, we also considered evaluating how the TramLink would affect the problem of congestion. It was our belief that it would aid in the transfer of students out of the area and decrease congestion. To our dismay, after having gathered all the key destinations of most students and having traced the path in which the TramLink travels, as shown on map 2 (pg. 89), we found that they do not coincide with most of the areas to which most students travel except for CR4. From the maps above, it can be seen that most students travel towards the north and south, while the TramLink takes a south-eastern route. Our conclusion is that it will aid up to a certain extent in the relief of the area from some congestion and in the better accommodation a relatively small number of students. Social Issues and Activities The next factor in the conflict at the Centre Court Shopping Centre is the social issues and activities of the students. This involves the reasons why the students gather at the centre, what they do while they are there, and their perception of the impact of their actions. Why do the students gather at the centre? Figure 24 (pg. 77) shows that according to a survey of students at the centre, the students are mainly there to socialise. They like to gather in the area during the afternoon hours of the day after the schools are dismissed and meet with their friends, talk and spend some time on the site before they go home. In addition, a large percentage of students identify commuting as their reason for going to the shopping centre. The qualitative observations confirms that a majority of the students come to the centre to talk with 89 students from other schools as well as their own. On a few occasions when it was raining, students were observed getting off a bus, realised that there was no crowd in front of the shopping centre due to the weather conditions and got right back on the same bus. These students appear to come to the centre to socialise. Figure 24 also shows that 9% of students also come to the centre to shop. When it is raining our observations also noted large numbers of students inside the centre, especially at McDonalds. Thus our quantitative observations appear to confirm the quantitative results shown in Figure 24. Students come to the shopping centre to socialise. Observations showed students mainly socialised around the steps at the entrance to the shopping centre. In addition to talking, boys tend to be engaged in physical activities, which obstructs the pedestrian flow. Their behaviour results sometimes into accidents where people might get hurt. Do you think there is a problem in the area of the Shopping Centre? No 57% Figure 35: Graph illustrating the percentage of the students surveyed that think there is a problem in the area of the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre 90 What are the students' perceptions of the impact of their activities? Figure 33 shows that a majority of students do not think there is a problem in the area. The perceived problem seems to be the crowding in the area. Very few students thought that the actions of the students were a problem. Some students mentioned that other people might view the fights as a problem, but that the students liked them. When a few students were told that the physical activities of the students had resulted in two ladies having their hips broken, the students were all surprised by this and indicated that they had been unaware of these occurrences. Most seemed to be shocked or upset as well. The vast majority of the students are thus unaware of the impact of their activities on non-students in the area. This analysis has lead to two different possible solutions. Between a quarter and half of the students would most likely be receptive to a Youth Worker who made the students aware of their impact. Unfortunately these students would most likely be the students who are not causing much of a problem now since they said they wanted to hear advice. The students who are being a physical nuisance would be the least likely to respond to the Student Worker. What the students really seem to want is a nice area where they can socialise and have fun without being bothered by other people. They need space to express themselves and spend some of their time in a relaxing way. The possible solution would be to make an area for the students where they could socialise, catch their buses, and get food, an activities centre. Such an area could be made either somewhere in between the three schools or in one of the three schools studied. On the second occasion the potential for fights might also decrease since the environment will be more strict with greater regulations applying on them. Giving them an area 91 like this would result in a drastic reduction in the number of students at the less desirable shopping centre. Age of Transfer As part of our project, the Borough of Merton asked us to determine the effect of a change in the Age of Transfer would have on the problem. The change in the Age of Transfer will increase the Ricards Lodge's student population by 50% overall. According to the information that we obtained from our liaison, Mr. Eddie Taylor, currently Ricards Lodge has 800 students. Another 400 students are to be added in the school and the total will reach the 1200 students. This indicates an increase of 50% of the student population overall. However, these 400 students will be distributed according to the table below: Age Group Current Number Number of of Students students after the Age of Transfer 11-12 240 12-13 200 240 13-14 200 240 14-15 200 240 15-16 200 240 Table 2 : Table illustrating the increase of the students at Ricards Lodge As we can observe, there is a specific distribution of the new students. Each year from the ages of 13 through 16 will increase by 40 students and 240 students of age 11-12 will be added to the school. However, from the data that we gathered from our surveys, we observed that only 3% of the students that come in the area are of age 11-12. Thus, the new 11-12yrs olds would most likely not contribute very much to the congestion. To evaluate the most likely scenario, we will take into consideration only the students of ages from 13 to 16 that are added to the school. In this case, the number of students from Ricards Lodge that gather in the area of the shopping centre 92 will be increased only by 20% (from 200 to 240 for each year). To indicate the effects of a worst case scenario, we will also project that all of the 240 students of age 11-12 will also start going to the area and therefore, the number of the students that gather there will be increased by 50%. Such an increase may result in the increase of the number of students gathering in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. Consequently, this may increase the degree and level of congestion, lead to the greater inconvenience for the pedestrians in the area, and to more people complaining for the situation. For our approximation of the increase of the students, we use the numbers gathered by the observation of Stop #1 only, since it is the stop most heavily used by the students. We want to examine both situations, when the students are dismissed all together (from Monday through Wednesday) and when the students get out at different times (Thursdays and Fridays). From the graph shown below, for a typical day from Monday through Wednesday, we may see the increase of students for both occasions, in relation to the current number of students in the area. Current number of students vs number of students after the Age of Transfer for average Monday through Wednesday 160 ts 140 120 den 100 n Current Number of tu 80 60 students f s 40 • Number of students # o 20 increased by 50% 0 C don q Number of students increased by 20% ble 1(12 (13-16) Wim School Figure 36: Figure showing the current number of students vs. the number of students after the age of transfer for average Monday through Wednesday. 93 In addition to that, we created graphs that show the projection of the number of students for both the occasions for an average Thursday and an average Friday. Current number of students vs number of students after the Age of Transfer for an average Thursday Current number of 200 students 180 ts 160 n 140 n Number of students de 120 increased by 50% tu 100 80 f s 60 40 q Number of students # o 20 increased by 20% (13- 0 16) school Figure 37: Figure illustrating the current number of students vs. the number of students after the Age of Transfer for an average Thursday Current number of students vs number of students after the Age of Transfer for an average Friday 250 • Current number of 200 ts students 150 den tu n Number of students f s 100 increased by 50% # o 50 q Number of students 0 ,1 increased by 20% (13- n I a) D _c do crs 16) le U) O b Wim school Figure 38: Figure illustrating the current number of students versus the number of students after the Age of Transfer for an average Friday. 94 From the data above, we were able to calculate the percentages by which the number of students that go to the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre will increase on both occasions. If we consider an increase of 50% of the Ricards Lodge students, there will be an increase of 8.27% in the total students that go to the shopping centre, on a typical day from Monday to Wednesday. If we consider a 20% increase of the Ricards Lodge students, there will be an increase of only 1.66% in the total students that go in the area on the same days. On the first occasion, there will be an increase of 6.07% in the total students that go to the shopping centre on a typical Thursday and only a 1.21% increase on the second occasion. Finally, on the first case, there will be an increase of 5.31% in the total students that go to the shopping centre on a typical Friday and only a 1.06% on the second occasion. An increase of 50% of the Ricards Lodge students will contribute only very slightly to the increase of the congestion outside the Centre Court Shopping Centre. However, none of the percentages mentioned above concerning both occasions, are big enough to cause major concerns. The chance should not be significant and no major issues should be created that are attributable solely to the Age of Transfer. After having discussed the three main aspects of the nature of the problem, its degree, its timing and its causes, we may now reach three conclusions: First, the congestion is being created because of the students' need to socialise. Second, the location of Stop #1 is the reason why the students gather in the particular area in front of the entrances of the shopping centre. Third, the time of the congestion is not an issue that we should focus on since no surveys or interviews provided us with data that illustrate the timing of the congestion as a main concern. In fact, on a Friday when the schools get our at different times, the problem decreases and the schedule of 95 dismissal appears optimal. In addition, creating school buses would help a lot in decongesting the area and finally, relocating the buses is a short term solution that would help in resolving the problem. It is obvious therefore, that the nature of the problem is the fact that the students congest in the area outside the entrance of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. 96 6. Conclusions and Recommendations This section contains our conclusions about and recommendations for decreasing the conflict due to congestion at the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre. The organisation of this section is as follows: First, we present an overview of our project. Next, there is a summary of the conclusions reached by our analysis of the results and finally there is a detailed discussion of each of the possible solutions. There are two sets of solutions: a group of recommended solutions and a group of dismissed solutions. Recommended solutions are ordered by their impact versus effort ratio; the solutions that have the most impact for the effort are first. Solutions that we recommend are: youth workers, moving the troublesome bus stop, establishing an activity area, changing school dismissal times, implementing school buses, and building a new station. Dismissed solutions follow the recommended solutions and are ordered in the same fashion. Solutions that have been dismissed are: not allowing students wearing uniforms to be at the shopping centre and re-routing buses. The recommendations and conclusions are summarised at the end of the section. We reached these conclusions and recommendations after having undertaken a number of previous steps. First, we researched information pertaining to the issues involved in the conflict at the shopping centre; the results of the research are contained in the Literature Review section of this report. The background gained from the Literature Review helped us decide what information we needed to gather from the site for this specific conflict. Details of the methods used in gathering information from the site are contained in the Methodology section of this report. The Results section is a comprehensive presentation of all data we gathered about the 97 conflict at the shopping centre. We analysed the data to be able to give solutions that alleviate the conflict; this is contained in the Analysis section of this report. These steps led to the conclusions and recommendations that follow in this section. After having analysed our results, we concluded that the current problem affecting the Wimbledon Shopping Centre was the students socialising in a main thoroughfare used by other pedestrians. Recommended Solutions We carefully analysed the situation at the Centre Court Shopping Centre and determined how well a number of possible solutions would decrease the conflict. Solutions that can decrease the conflict and can be implemented follow The full analysis that led to these recommendations is in the Analysis section of this report. The recommendations are ordered by their impact versus effort ratio; the solutions that have the most impact for the effort are first. The recommended solutions are: youth workers, moving the troublesome bus stop, establishing an activity area, changing school dismissal times, implementing school buses, and building a new station. Youth Workers Having youth workers advise students would be very feasible and it would have a positive impact on the problem. Large numbers of the students do not think there is a problem in the area of the shopping centre. Figure 33 shows that 43% of surveyed students thought that there was a problem. Of the students who thought there was a problem, two-thirds thought that the problem was congestion or violence; resulting in 29% who think congestion or violence is a problem in the area. The other 98 third of the students seemed to think the problem was security guards, no night clubs, or other similar things. There is a lot of room for improvement in the perceptions of the students. When students were told that ladies had been knocked over by students, resulting in broken hips, most students were surprised and shocked. The students are not aware of the problems they cause for others, but most do care. Students' lack of perception and awareness indicates that youth workers could help a lot. Do you think there is a problem in the area of the shopping centre? Yes 43% No 57% Figure 33: Graph illustrating the percentage of the students surveyed that think there is a problem in the area of the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre The role of the youth workers would be to talk with students and help them understand the effects of their actions. If the students realise the harm they cause others through their actions, they will be more careful and restrained. The small percentage of students who think that congestion and violence is a problem indicates that youth workers can have a large effect. Thus, the youth workers could encourage the large number of students outside the shopping centre behave better. There are, however, drawbacks to this solution. It relies completely on the ability of youth workers to influence the students' behaviour. Students will still be at 99 the centre to socialise and get transportation home. The actual impact is also in question, as the students who cause the most problems may be the least likely to respond to the youth workers. Moving the Location of Bus Stop #1 One of the steps that can be used to solve this conflict is to move the bus stop that currently causes most of the problem. This would be a good solution to this problem since it is relatively easy to implement and has a high probability of reducing congestion dramatically. This recommendation is very viable since it can be put to use in a short time without a lot of economic effort. The steps that should be taken to relieve the problem of congestion would be to move the bus stop in front of the Shopping Centre to an area up the road, in the direction of the Wimbledon Train Station. Moving the bus stop in this direction would decrease the congestion in front of the shopping centre. The students would not be able to see the bus from the shopping centre entrance until it was too late to get on the bus. As a result, the students would gather in front of the new stop location. Figure 42 shows that Stop #1 receives much more student traffic than Stop #2 or Stop #3. Stop #1 is the stop currently in front of the shopping centre. Stop #2 and Stop #3 are the other two bus stops in the area. A map showing the locations of the three stops, the shopping centre, and Wimbledon Station can be found in Appendix B. 100 Stop # vs. School 180.00 160.00 140.00 120.00 100.00 ▪ Wimbledon 80.00 g Ursuline 60.00 Ricards 40.00 01 Other 20.00 0.00 0 1 Stop #1 Stop #2 Stop #3 Stop # Figure 42: Graph illustrating the average number of students at each bus stop Stop #1 could be moved in front of the main entrance to Wimbledon Station. In front of the station, there is more standing room for the people boarding or disembarking the buses. The station has two entrances so people would not have to walk through the students to get to the station. Once the main stop is moved, there will be space left for another stop with less traffic. The current bus Stop #2, which is in between the Shopping Centre's main entrance and the Wimbledon Train Station, could be moved to the present location of Bus Stop #1, in front of the Wimbledon Shopping Centre. This action would alleviate the problem of congestion in both stops since pedestrians would have a lot more space through which to commute and few students use the buses that are served by Bus Stop #2. For this solution to work, not all the buses at Stop #1 need to be moved, just the buses with the most students. Figures 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 17 showing the number 101 of students using each bus can be found on pages 40, 41, 44, 45, 48, and 49, respectively. Most students leave the centre by bus 93, 57, or 200. Moving just stops for buses 93, 57, and 200 will drastically reduce the congestion at the shopping centre. Many students arrive on bus 131. These students will be congesting the pavement walking to stops 93, 57, and 200. Thus, moving stops 57, 93, 131, and 200 would be best. There are two main drawbacks to this approach. First, the students would still gather at the bus stop. If the stop is in front of Wimbledon Station, which is not a comfortable place to socialise, they will not be likely to stay long. they are not likely to stay as long because this is not a comfortable place to socialise. The station also has a second entrance near the shopping centre so people do not need to walk through the students waiting for their bus. Second, adults using the buses to get to the shopping centre will have to walk farther. We do not know how many adults use buses 57, 93, 131, and 200 to get to the shopping centre, so we do not know how much of a problem this would be. A study could be conducted to determine this. For this solution to be implemented, people would also need to evaluate the effects of the new bus stop on vehicle travel. Activity Centre An activity centre for the students would be the optimal solution to the conflict. This would give the students somewhere else to socialise. Figure 24 shows that the main reason students are at the shopping centre is to socialise. If it were arranged that bus 57, 93, and 200 stopped near the activity centre, the students would have fewer reasons to go to the shopping centre. The ease of implementation varies depending on the location. 102 Why do you usually come to the centre? Other Commute 1% 27% Socialize Shop 9% l) 63% Figure 24: Graph illustrating the reasons for the students gathering in the area of the Wimbledon Centre The activity centre could be located in many different places. It could be at a school, using existing facilities. It could be some place near Ursuline Covent, Wimbledon College, and Ricards Lodge; or it could be near the shopping centre. The location does not matter as long as four conditions are met: students from Ursuline, Wimbledon, and Ricards are all allowed to be there; it is convenient to get to from the three schools; food can be purchased near by; and buses are close by. Implementing this idea at a school may be easiest but the results might not be as good as at a separate centre. Problems might arise if, for example, students from Ricards Lodge wanted to go to an activity centre at Ursuline Covent to socialise. The issue of an appropriate location for an activity centre was beyond the scope of this report. However, it is believed that using a school for the centre could run into problems with what students consider to be their 'territory.' If students from Ricards tried coming to a centre at Ursuline, the chances of a fight would be higher than in a neutral area. Due to this, the congestion at the shopping centre may not be drastically reduced. A separate, neutral, area would appear to be best. This is what exists at the shopping centre. 103 A separate, neutral area would cost more to establish than using a school. However, if it is possible to buy food and play coin-operated games at the centre, then the centre should pay for itself in time. This is our optimal solution: a special activities area where the students can meet on neutral ground to socialise; food sales and coin-operated games on the premises so the area pays for itself; located near the three schools, or near the shopping centre; bus stops near by so students can get home conveniently. This would require a lot of work but it would be optimal because it offers the students everything that draws them to the shopping centre, plus more. Changing School Dismissal Times Changing the times at which the students leave their school will have some effect on the congestion in the area. It was noted that on the days that the schools are dismissed at different times, Thursday and Friday, that the maximum density of students is decreased. On these days, the volume of students is spread over a larger time so there are not as many students in the area at one time. However, the total number of students at the centre is higher on these days and there are students at the centre for a longer period. This can be seen in figures 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, and 15 on pages 38, 39, 42, 43, 46, and 47 respectively. The proposed solution would be to change school dismissal times so on no day do Wimbledon College, Ursuline Covent, and Ricards Lodge dismiss their students at the same time. Table 1 shows the current school dismissal times. Altering this schedule so on no day does all three schools dismiss at the same time would decrease the density of the congestion. Table 3 shows a possible revised school dismissal schedule. The revised schedule results in no loss of school hours. The total hours of school in one week remains the same. 104 School Normal Early Dismissal Time Dismissal Time and Day Ricards Lodge 3:20 PM 2:10 PM (Thursday) Ursuline Covent 3:30 PM 1:40 PM (Friday) Wimbledon College 3:30 PM 1:40 PM (Friday) Table 1: Table presenting the different times of dismissal for the three schools under study. School Normal Early Dismissal Time and Dismissal Time Day Ricards Lodge 3:20 PM 2:10 PM (Thursday) Ursuline Covent 3:30 PM 2:35 PM (Monday and Wednesday) Wimbledon College 3:30 PM 2:35 PM (Tuesday and Friday) Table 3: Table presenting the proposed school dismissal times for the three schools. There are drawbacks to this approach. First, changing the school schedule would require a lot of effort. Second, many students will wait for their friends from other schools; the students are there to socialise. Third, students will be at the centre for a longer period on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thus, the improvement that this solution would provide is low and it requires much effort. School Buses School buses dedicated to transporting only students would be another step that could be considered to relieve the congestion at the Wimbledon Shopping Centre. The students would be re-routed so that they do not gather at Wimbledon. School buses would take students to and from certain postal areas. This would solve the problem of student congestion by giving the students a direct route to their final destination. At 105 the same time, it would lessen the conflicts between competing schools by limiting possibilities for large-scale interaction. The data that was analysed indicated that there should be three different school bus routes for the students. The major schools that contribute to the congestion are all located in a Central area. The three new bus routes would service all three major schools. They would transport the students to the main areas where they reside. Bus Route 1 would transport the students to a central area between postal code CR4 and SW 16, located to the south of the schools. Bus Route 2 would transport the largest group of students, ones that reside to the north of the schools, in postal codes SW 19, SW17 and SM4. The destination of Bus Route 3 is a single area farther north, at postal code SW9. These three bus routes, transporting the students from all the schools, could constitute a socialising environment for the students to interact. There are a number of potential problems with using school busses as a solution. School buses would be relatively expensive and would require a lot of effort to implement. Students would not necessarily use the school buses; unless their parents stopped buying them bus passes. The students go to the shopping centre more to socialise than to get transportation. Figure 24 shows this. Going directly home on school buses does not allow the students time to socialise. As a result, the students may not want to use the school buses. They may want to still congregate at the shopping centre to socialise. 106 New Station Another solution would be to integrate the bus stations with the existing Train Station. To accomplish this, the existing station would have to be renovated. Renovations would have to address one of the major problems, which would be to create enough space to hold many pedestrians without obstructing the sidewalks. The station would have to hold more occupants and be able to have a specific area for the buses to park. Another important factor to consider with this solution would be having enough resources to entertain the high school and college students who use the facilities. Along with building a new bus and train station there should be some sort of attractions for the students. This solution would require a lot of effort and money, but it has a lot of potential. In renovating the station, an area similar to the 'Activity Centre' described above, could be integrated into the area. This would be an optimal solution. The borough is already planning to renovate the Station to accommodate buses. Including an activities area in the plans would be very worthwhile, as it would completely remove the congestion from any place where non-students would be affected. Unfortunately, this solution will not be implemented soon, so short term solutions, such as youth workers, would have to be implemented in the mean time. Dismissed Solutions After careful consideration and research, the following recommendations were dismissed. The reasons for this are discussed with the solution. 107 No Uniforms at Shopping Centre A method of alleviating the problem of student congestion would be to disallow students from wearing uniforms at the shopping centre grounds, unless accompanied by a guardian. After careful deliberation, we concluded that it would cause resentment, violations of school uniform code, and would be very difficult to enforce. Students do need to use the bus stops at the shopping centre to get home. Re-routing Buses We considered re-routing the current bus paths. After analysing the various routes, it was found that re-routing the buses would negatively affect the community as a whole. It would impede people trying to reach the Wimbledon Shopping Centre or Wimbledon Station. This project revealed eight potential solutions to the conflict due to congestion at the Wimbledon Centre Court Shopping Centre. Two of these were eliminated on grounds of feasibility. The remaining solutions are both short term and long term. The optimal solution is establishing an activity area for the students, this could be at a renovated bus and train station. This is a long term solution, intended to end the problem once and for all. The short term solutions are using youth workers and moving the bus stops that the students mainly use. Neither of these solutions will get rid of the problem, they will abate and relocate it, respectively. The short-term two solutions should be used in combination for greater effect. The last two solutions would have an undetermined impact on the situation. Changing school dismissal times and implementing school buses will reduce the congestion, but the magnitude of the reduction is unknown. More studies should be done before either of these two 108 solutions is implemented. For the solution of changing school dismissal times, a study would be needed addressing how many students wait for friends from other schools at the shopping centre. For the school bus solution, a study would be needed, examining how many of the students that go to the shopping centre would take a school bus home instead. 109 Bibliography Books Aronson, E., Wilson, T., & Akert, R. (1994), Social Psychology: The Heart and the Mind. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers. Atkinson Paul & Coffey Amanda (1996), Making Sense out of qualitative data, London: Sage Publications Berry, B. J. L., & Silverman, L.P. (1980). Population Redistribution and Public Policy. Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. Bonner, Hubert. (1959). Group Dynamics: Principles and Applications. New York: The Ronald Press Company Brown, Rupert. (1988). Group Processes: Dynamics within and between Groups. New York: Basil Blackwell Inc. Cervero Robert (1988), The Transit Metropolis, Washington DC: Island Press Cohen, A.P. (1985). The Symbolic Construction of Community. New York: Tavistock Publications and Ellis Horwood. Corbin Juliet & Strauss Anselm (1990), Basics of Qualitative Research, London: Sage Publications Fischer, Claude S. (1977). Networks and Places: Social Relations in the Urban Setting. New York: Free Press. Frankfort-Nachmias, C. & Nachmias, D. (1992). Research Methods in the Social Science. New York: St. Martin's Press. Freedman, Jonathan L. (1975). Crowding and Behavior. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Compay. Fruin, John J. (1987). Pedestrian Planning and Design. Mobile: Elevator World Inc. Gamson, William A. (1968). Power and Discontent. Homewood: Dorsey Press. Gregory, D., & Urry, J. (1985). Social Relations and Spatial Structures. New York: St. Martin's Press. Hall, S., & Jefferson, T. (Ed.). (1993). Resistance through rituals : youth subcultures in post-war Britain. London: Routledge Lindzey, G. & Aronson, E. (Ed.). (1969). The Handbook of Social Psychology. Reading: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 110 Moudon Anne Vernez (1991). Public Streets for Public use, New York: Columbia University Press. OECD Road Research Group (1977). Transport Requirements for Urban Communities, Paris France: OECD Group Ross, L., Coleman, M. & Hall, R. (1999). Students Schools and Neighborhoods: A SPARCS Action Curriculum for Community Change, 1-33. Secord, Paul F. (1982). Explaining Human Behavior: Consciousness, Human Action and Social Structure. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. Sewell W. R., Coppock J. T. (1977). Public Participation in Planning, London: John Wiley and Sons. Slocum, R., Wichhart, L., & Rocheleau, D. (Ed.). (1995). Power, Process and Participation: Tools for Change. London: Intermediate Technology Publications. Stringer Peter (1976). Transportation planning for a better environment, New York: Published in coordination with NATO Scientific Affairs Division by Plenum Press Tonnies, Ferdinand (1957). Community & Society. New York: Harper & Row. Weiner Edward (1987). Urban transportation planning in the United States, Publisher New York Praeger Technical Reports Davies Steven (1982). Design Effective Pedestrian improvements in Business Districts, Chicago Illinois: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service National Research Council (1976). Transportation Planning for small urban Areas, Washington: Transportation Research Board, National Research Council National Research Council (1975). Research Need for Evaluating Urban Public Transportation,Washington: Transportation Research Board, National Research Council United States Bureau (1968). Urban Development Models, Washington: highway research Board, National Research Council Periodicals/ Journals 1 1 1 Behnam Jahanbakhsh (1977). "Pedestrian volume estimation by land-use variables", transportation Engineering journal, Vol. 103 No. 4 pp. 507-520 Bowman Brian (1994 September). "Strategies for increasing bicycle and pedestrian safety and use", journal of Urban Planning and Development, Vol. 120 No. 3 pp. 105-114 Habicht Tom (1984 January/February). "Effective width of pedestrian corridors", Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol 110 No. 1 pp. 80-93 Seneviratne Prianka (1985 July/August) "Acceptable walking distance in central areas", Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol 111 No. 4 pp. 365-376 Travers Warren (1979 August). "Face-lifting city streets", Civil Engineering-ASCE, Vol. 49 No. 8 pp. 79-80 World Wide Web Sites: The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative Urban Village Vision Process, United States Department of Transportation, Urban Design Campaign Case Studies: WIMBLEDON, LONDON, National Transportation Library, Putting the people into planning, School of Geography University of Leeds, 112 Appendix A — Sponsor Information Contact name: Eddy Taylor, Environmental education Officer Sponsor: London Borough of Merton, Address: Education, leisure and libraries Department Merton Civic Centre London Road, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5DX Telephone: 020 8545 3280 Fax: 020 8545 3260 Merton is one of the boroughs of greater London; it is situated in south-eastern England. Merton is one of the 19 outer boroughs, which surround the city of London that forms part of the greater London metropolitan area. The Education, Leisure, and Libraries Department of the London Borough of Merton has the responsibility of solving problems pertaining to the Merton community. The Education, Leisure, and Libraries Department obtain its funds from the government. The liaison is Eddy Taylor who assumes the position of Environmental Education Officer in this department. The department is broken down into three main divisions which are the following: child policy and school effectiveness, community service, and planning and resources; each of these divisions handles specific problems affecting the borough. This project is carried out under the support of the division on child policy and school effectiveness. The main function of this division is to support the responsibilities of school staff and governors, make sure that child support is distributed, and providing quality schooling for the community by managing the financial aspects. 113 Appendix B — Information from Background Research List of the Mitcham and Wimbledon Guardian newspaper issues that have been reviewed by the project team: Newspaper Date Wimbledon Guardian 7 January1999 Wimbledon Guardian 14 January1999 Mitcham Guardian 21 January1999 Mitcham Guardian 28 January1999 Mitcham Guardian 4 February 1999 Wimbledon Guardian 11 February 1999 Mitcham Guardian 18 February 1999 Wimbledon Guardian 25 February 1999 Wimbledon Guardian 4 March 1999 Wimbledon Guardian 11March 1999 Mitcham Guardian 18 March 1999 Mitcham Guardian 1 April 1999 Mitcham Guardian 8 April 1999 Wimbledon Guardian 15 April 1999 Mitcham Guardian 29 April 1999 Postcodes obtained from Interview with Mr. Ray Puddy: Wimbledon SW19 Raynes Park SW20 Streatham SW 16 Kingston KT4 Morden SM4 Micham CR4 114 • • ▪ ▪ O UW -.=,>-.-F4CD < 0 o c c .7- cl- mai,moxi cil tn 0 gcn 0=r'ww=-1( ,) 1:1c o C c a.* c m7....- = 90gT in O o na) .0c_=2.)<- (=7 tn n ..--mo,-. CD == p.,,. . ..1) tA = CP w .(6., ,... 0 rn ' -' . =22(1) CD -cj• < -.1 '''n 0==o- o=0 CD m m 0 -2a 0 =•ca,71 ' O -6r.n.-co =com tinaca ent 0 --: ,„.1 c m _ ,.., .._ 0'••0•- 0 _ , :„, = .-... =00 co 0 0 .0 . 0; 6,•'" -S =nr, ....,o'c cp Z -3 cf) Tz =0-0 .0 w 0rn 0=* 0- 3 :4 8 cro rA 0 o n m FS' `'‹ 0co 0 2,g,...- 1 . ,- - 2 ia.7743. 1 2 0'i '.- --:% i F CT w cn" ,c1. = ("m2,-- w = .=g 7.,8 = --..- .'8 ''.11)(4 =c1:1 ::: - --0 r '0 O0 e c, •cs C Cfg '8 (2 0..--. 0111). !"-I eD5 = 5- m 2)2),„ 0 0 CDC<=C50CD"/ - F",.. 5 --0.E w 0 , 0m8, mM o-M00 CDa^ -,,,, ' m m F CD II 234 z='-'=6C-1 =.9., SO .--.."- ' .00 '< ,-(D, W ."DO0. fm z s.U' (79,ca Ene-". (;) .0- f"-=5-,- -tmng-mo -100 ao w l crz cro a ° 0 v c.) --0 oocrm-..„.....--,0 i'- ,.." = •0 '0.-..m.--, , < ai iFP;ITLW457;41'11' cn r) = , ,.....1.- 2 1 '" . Z5 o m• ‹ ---.- .-.- .... - - ...... - . 0 •.. 0 •c".'o" = o =_. .._ . ,•• ,-...--, 2 c: t=7.(12.=a'11,9.r" mmm .... w ... .• (7.,.- :, ,.. r- v .C7)(610. LD .1,M sly C"' :::;;'n.10 .23, 0 si P, CD F)Cn 23 7-jEL..- V5 r.-2).- s ,-.1.,- --"''rD 'CLM 0e- ...R' ==..,M eool w....) • 0 ,.... _,, (/) Z ...... Ca " r 'f 4 2-0'--zi-4- 4._ Fir ,,,- in 0 -CI J CD / • CD CD (.1) W 1C3 CD C-) Cl_ C01)-5 - CD (C) r') 3 t 1 , , , O »* -'? o \Q> ,s, 0-,. 0 O \ O CD a CD g , C) M = CO= \ r—< M /'\ M r— > cn x > m -0 K> \ m m z = r- - i C) \20 1) CD ---,,•,° / 0 (- T) a) Q -<, - C1)ci--- (r) < --,.., CD c---(1) CI 1 - • CD (-) C/ CD cf) 0 VQ1en) CD Y CO 0 Map showing the current location of the bus stops r) ' 0 -1.) CD Cl_ CD ci) (-D — w CD co._ CO /1/ Cr CD ( D N I> / / / / / n / _ _ - / 0 z . \ \ 4‘ / / . \ N • \ / / \ \ \ : \ \ > \ \ \ s. . / \ \\' i, \ \ \ ) ‘; , 4- ) \ \ /y' -__ OS eg J 8U. 01 l el r CD M U 0 LJ Appendix C — Sheet used for taking notes during observations Date: /05/00 Weather: Time Number of bus Number of students School 118 Appendix D — Student Survey Survey for Students We are representatives from the Council of Merton conducting a study on pedestrian congestion in Wimbledon. Part of our study includes surveying the people involved in the area of the Centre Court Shopping Centre. We would appreciate you taking time to complete the survey. We ensure that all answers are confidential and will be used for purposes of our research only. 1) Which school do you attend? q Ricards Lodge High School q Ursuline Covent q Wimbledon College q Beverly q Raynes Park q Rutlish q ADT College q Park House schools q Elliot q Lady Margaret's q Putney q The London Oatory q Wimbledon High School q Stanley Park q St. Catherine Other 2) How do you usually arrive at the centre? q By bus q By car q By bicycle q Walking Other 3) Why do you usually come to the centre? q Socialise q Shop q Commute/ change buses Other 4) Where do you go to next? q Work q Home Other 119 5) What number of bus do you take to go to your next destination? q 57 q 93 q 131 q 200 q 219 q 163 q 164 q 156 q Other 6) Please state the postal code of the area you are going to next: 7) Please state your age: q 11 q 12 q 13 q 14 q 15 q 16 q 17 q 18 q Other 8) Please state your gender: q Female q Male 9) How long do you stay in average on the site? q Less than 15 min q Between 15 and 30 min. q More than 30 min. q More than 1 hour 10) Did you know that the tram-link is operational? q Yes q No 11) If it passed through the area of your destination, would you take it? q Yes q No 12) Do you think there is a problem in the area? q Yes q No 13) If yes, what do you think should be done to decongest the area? Thank you for completing this survey. Again we assure you that all your answers are confidential. 121 Appendix E — Graphical representation of students' traffic at Bus stop #1 17 th of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Bus Stop #1 60 —*--ARRIVING 50 Wimbledon ts n 40 —a—ARRIVING School de Ursuline 30 Stu ARRIVING School f 20 R iccard's # o —x—ARRIVING School 10 Other 0 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 04:30 Time Category II Arriving at Bus Stop #1 60 50 ts n 40 1111Wimbeldon de MUrsuline tu 30 R icards f s 20 DOther # o 10 0 In 41 , 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus # Category I Leaving at Bus Stop #1 25 LEAVING Wimbledon ts 20 n de 15 —MI—LEAVING School Ursuline Stu 10 f LEAVING School # o 5 Riccard's 0 --X— LEAVING School Other 03:15 03:30 03:45 Time Category II Leaving at Bus Stop #1 30 Sc 25 El Wimbeldon 4.) 20 • Ursuline a 15 cn CIRicards 10 0 5 1:10ther 0 MIT 57 93 131 200 219 270 Bus Number 122 19th of May 2000 Category I: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 - ARRIVING ts 60 n Wimbledon de 40 A RRN ING School 20 --s— f Stu Ursuline 0 # o ARRIVING School \ • \ • Riccard's 09' . 097 - ARRIVING School Time Other Category II: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 100 ts n 80 • Wimbeldon de 60 tu 40 n Ursuline f s 20 u, 1111 q Ricards # o 0 — 57 93 131 200 219 270 q Other bus # Category I: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 15 LEAVING Wimbledon dents 10 --a— LEAVING School Stu 5 f Ursuline 0 # o LEAVING School .0 .).<0 .0 Riccard's 0\ 0\ / 0b LEAVING School Time Other Category II: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 25 ts Wimbeldon n 20 n de 15 Ursuline 10 q Ricards f Stu 5 q Other # o 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 Bus # 22" of May 2000 Category I: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 ARRIVING 80 —4-- Wimbledon 60 dents 40 - o-- ARRIVING School Stu Ursuline f 20 ARRIVING School # o 0 Ricc ard's 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 ---X-- ARRIVING School Time Other Category II: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 80 60 dents • VVimbeldon 40 tu n Ursuline f s 20 q Ricards # o 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 q Other bus # Category I: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 LEAVING Wimbledon ts n de --o— LEAVING School Stu Ursuline f LEAVING School # o 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 04:30 Riccard's x LEAVING School Time Other Category II: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 co 60 -o0 40 • Wirrbeldon in 20 n Ursuline 0 4t 0 q Ricards 57 93 131 200 219 270 q Other Bus # 124 23rd of May 2000 Category I: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 50 40 —0—ARRIVING Wimbledon 431 30 --IO—ARRIVING School Ursuline (I) 20 ARRIVING School Riccard's 0 ft 10 —A—ARRIVING School Other 0 02:45 03:00 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 04:30 Time Category II: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 70 60 111Wimbeldon c 50 40 n Ursuline 30 o Ricards 15 20 at DOther 10 0 93 131 200 219 270 bus # Category I: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 LEAVING Wimbledon ts n de —a— LEAVING School Stu f Ursuline # o LEAVING School 00 <0 0 0 0 <0 \ . C ‘ .0 .\ Riccard's fg Ob. Orb. 00* 01"` • O r` • Ot"` • --- LEAVING School Time Other Category II: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 30 25 O Wimbeldon 20 n Ursuline 15 0 Ricards 15 10 0 Other 5 0 57 93 131 200 219 270 Bus # 24th of May 2000 Category I: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 ARRIVING 30 ts Wimbledon n 20 de --s— ARRIVING School 10 Ursuline f Stu ARRIVING School # o 0 Riccard's 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 pk-- ARRIVING School Time Other Category II: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 80 g 60 • Wirrbeldon z 40 n Ursuline III 20 0 it 0 q Ricards 57 93 131 200 219 270 q Other bus # Category I: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 —4— LEAVING Wimbledon ts n LEAVING School de Ursuline Stu LEAVING School f Riccard's # o LEAVING School 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 Other Time Category II: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 25 ts n 20 de 15 • Wimbeldon 10 Stu n Ursuline f 5 q Ricards # o 0 11 h 57 93 131 200 219 270 q Other Bus # 25th of May 2000 Category I: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 — *--ARRIVING Wimbledon — a—ARRIVING School Ursuline ARRIVING School Riccard's ARRIVING School Other 3:00 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 Time Category II: Category I: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 25 ts — 4— LEAVING Wimbledon n 20 de 15 • — LEAVING School Ursuline Stu 10 LEAVING School Riccard's f 5 LEAVING School Other # o 0 2:00 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 Time Category II: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 25 6.., 20 111Wimbeldon -8 15 n Ursuline 2 u) 10 O Ricards ic 5 DOther 0 J WI 57 93 131 200 219 270 Bus # 127 8th of June 2000 Category I: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 80 70 g. 60 —0— Wimbledon g, 50 Ursuline 40 Riccard's 30 20 —44-- Other 10 0 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 ti me Category II: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 80 70 II 60 n Wimbeldon 4, 50 n Ursuline p, 40 O Ricards 30 it 20 Other 10 0 r, =MI 57 93 131 200 219 270 Bus e Category I: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 Wimbledon Ursuline Riccard's Other 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 time Category II: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 co 4° 30 iteetaraiei,:.adelie n Wi mbslcbn 20 Mil ra n UrsUine 10 0 TI_ I 3 11111M q Ri cad 57 93 131 200 219 270 q Other bus # 9th of June 2000 Category I: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 100 80 dents 60 —*—Wimbedm tu 40 f s 20 --a— Ursuline # o 0 Riccads —x— Other time Category II: Arriving at Bus Stop #1 120 s 100 13 Wimbeldon 80 n U rsuline 60 O Ricards "6 40 0 Other 20 0 n 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus # Category I: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 30 ts n 20 de --*—Wimbecbn tu 10 f s • # o 0 Riccads .1,<7 <') PP AO 13 P' . (13 63 —x— Other time Category II: Leaving at Bus Stop #1 35 30 25 ▪ W imbeldon -8 20 n Ursuline 15 Ricards 15 10 ac 0 Other 5 0 FL 57 93 131 200 219 270 bus Jt 129 Appendix F — Graphical representation of student traffic at Bus Stop #2 Appendix VI 19th of May 2000 Category I Category II Arriving at Stop #2 1.2 1 F . ts le Riccard's n 0.8 de m Ursuline tu 0.6 qWimbledon f s 0.4 q Others # o 0.2 0 163 164 156 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #2 4.5 4 3.5 ts —4— LEAVING Riccard's n 3 de 2.5 2 —11— LEAVING School f Stu 1.5 Ursuline # o 1 LEAVING School 0.5 Wimbledon LEAVING School Others Category II Leaving at Stop #2 10 9 8 ts 7 KIR icc a rd's n 6 de mUrsuline 5 oW im bledon f stu 4 # o 3 DO there 2 1 0 163 164 bus # 22' of May 2000 Category I Leaving at Stop #2 4.5 LEAVING Riccard's 4 ---.— 3.5 ts n 3 --a—LEAVING School de 2.5 Ursuline Stu 2 LEAVING School f 1.5 Wimbledon # o 1 x LEAVING School 0.5 Others 0- 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 04:30 Time Category II Leaving at Stop #2 7 6 ts 5 • Riccard's n de 4 n Ursuline tu 3 q Wimbledon # of s 2 00thers 1 0 163 164 bus # 23rd of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #2 6 ARRIVING Riccard's 5 ts 4 —s— ARRIVING School den Ursuline 3 Stu ARRIVING School f 2 Wimbledon # o )4 ARRIVING School 1 Others 0 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:15 Time Category II Arriving at Stop #2 ts • Riccard's n de n Ursuline tu O W imbledon f s q # o 0thers 163 164 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #2 4.5 4 LEAVING Riccard's 3.5 ts n 3 LEAVING School de 2.5 Ursuline Stu 2 LEAVING School f 1.5 Wimbledon # o 1 -- LEAVING School 0.5 Others 0 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 04:30 Time Category II Leaving at Stop #2 9 - 8 7 ts 6 pRiccard's den 5 • Ursuline tu 4 0W im bledon f s 3 00 thers # o 2 - 0 163 164 bus # 24 th of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #2 4.5 4 —*—ARRIVING Riccard's 3.5 ts n 3 —in--ARRIVING School de 2.5 Ursuline Stu 2 ARRIVING School f 1.5 Wimbledon # o 1 ARRIVING School 0.5 Others 0 03:00 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 Time Category II Arriving at Stop #2 3.5 3 ts 2.5 Riccard's den 2 n Ursuline tu 1.5 q Wimbledon f s q 0thers # o 1 0.5 0 163 164 1 56 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #2 6 —a—LEAVING Riccard's 5 ts n 4 —a—LEAVING School de Ursuline 3 Stu LEAVING School f 2 Wimbledon # o 1 —x—LEAVING School Others 0 03:00 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:15 04:30 Tim e Category II Leaving at Stop #2 8 7 ts n 6 ON Riccard's de 5 n Ursuline tu 4 q Wimbledon f s 3 q Others # o 2 1 163 164 bus # 25 th of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #2 —a—ARRIVING Riccard's ts n —a— ARRIVING School de Ursuline Stu ARRIVING School f W imbledon # o ARRIVING School Others 03:00 03:15 03:30 03:45 04:15 Time Category II Arriving at Stop #2 2.5 2 ts Riccard's n 1.5 de NUrsuline tu OW imbledon f s 1 q 0thers # o 0.5 0 163 164 156 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #2 6 ts —•—LEAVING Riccard's n 5 de 4 -f- LEAVING School Stu f Ursuline 2 # o LEAVING School --411 W imbledon —x— LEAVING School .tx .0 . 1\ 9) .1), 0C) .1\0 .(bC) tx- Others 0 0rb' 0r5' 0 0 0 0 0 Time Category II Leaving at Stop #2 12 10 ts n 8 R ic c a rd's de IIIIU rs u line tu 6 ciW im bledon f s 4 # o 00 thers 2 0 163 164 bus # Appendix G — Graphical representation of student traffic at Bus Stop #3 138 Appendix VII 17 th of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #3 7 6 ts 5 - Arriving Ricards n de 4 —Ri—Arriving School Stu 3 f Ursuline 2 # o Arriving School 1 W imbledon 0 —m—Arriving School Other CP f'P O°" . Ot*. CO . Time Category II Arriving at Stop #3 7 6 ts 5 n Ricards n de 4 n Ursuline tu 3 O Wimbledon f s # o 2 ['Other 1 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #3 8 7- ts 6 Leaving Ricards n 5 de 4 • Leaving School f Stu 3 Ursuline # o 2 Leaving School 1 W imbledon 0 - Leaving School Other Po .0 Po c'o • cb • Time Category II Leaving at Stop #3 12 10 ts 8 n Ricards den n Urs Wine tu 6 q W imbledon f s 4 # o CI Other 2 0 i! in I n 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # 19 th of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #3 1.2 1 ts Riccards n 0.8 0.6 —a—Arriving School 0.4 Ursuline # of Stu de Arriving School 0.2 W imbledon 0 Arriving School Other 00 00 00 c 00 <69 Time Category II Arriving at Stop #3 1.2 1 ts pRicards n 0.8 de •Ursuline tu 0.6 OW im bledon f s 0.4 00 ther # o 0.2 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #3 6 5 ts - -o—Leaving Riccards n 4 de 3 —a—Leaving School 2 Ursuline # of Stu Leaving School 1 Wimbledon 0 —x—Leaving School Other oc) c) o'3? ot" . o`'). Time Category II Leaving at Stop #3 7 6 ts 5 n Ricards de 4 n Ursuline tu 3 DW imbledon f s q # o 2 Other 1 0 -11 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # 22" of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #3 3.5 - 3 ts 2.5 Arriving Riccards n de 2 —a— A rriving School Stu 1.5 f Ursuline 1 # o Arriving School 0.5 W imbledon , ,54 - - +No •34 . • 0 —x—Arriving School Other ,50 .6) 6.s, 50 (3, oti 01/ Time Category II Arriving at Stop #3 3.5 3 ts 2.5 n Ricards n de 2 • Ursuline tu 1.5 OW imbledon # of s 1 00ther 0.5 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #3 6 5 ts —4o—Leaving Riccards 4 3 • Leaving School 2 Ursuline # of Studen Leaving School 1 W imbledon –max k 0 - Leaving School Other 0() 0 0 o O 0rs?' 0 s 0<, •3') Time Category II Leaving at Stop #3 ts Ricards den n Ursuline tu OW im bledon f s # o 00ther 57 131 163 200 219 bus # 23rd of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #3 3.5 3 ts —4—Arriving Riccards n 2.5 de 2 —.-- Arriving School 1.5 f Stu Ursuline 1 # o Arriving School 0.5 W imbledon AA- 66- -152, 4110- nom , : OW - 0 Arriving School Other .0`) o o 01/ 01/ tx• ° Time Category II Arriving at Stop #3 2.5 2 ts pRicards n 1.5 de • Ursuline tu OW imbledon f s 1 q 0ther # o 0.5 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #3 3.5 3 ts —4—Leaving Riccards n 2.5 2 Leaving School Stu de 1.5 --•-- f Ursuline 1 # o Leaving School 0.5 W imbledon 0 - -- Leaving School Other . 01/ 01/ 0`51. Ob•s> <6c) Time Category II Leaving at Stop #3 4.5 4 3.5 ts n 3 ERicards de 2.5 NU rsuline tu 2 OW im bledon f s 1.5 q # o 0ther 1 0.5 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # 24th of May 2000 Category I Arriving at Stop #3 ts Riccards n —a— Arriving School f Stu de Ursuline # o Arriving School W im bledon - Arriving School Other Category II Arriving at Stop #3 8 7 6 ts Ricards n 5 de n Ursuline tu 4 q Wimbledon f s 3 q # o Other 2 1 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #3 4.5 4 3.5 ts —*—Leaving Riccards n 3 de 2.5 --a— Leaving School Stu 2 f 1.5 Ursuline , # o 1 Leaving School 0.5 Wimbledon —)4-- Leaving School Other ...,"..o °C) 3° o Q PJC) .C)Qi fbQ .0Q1 x tx• C. * < 0 0o 0 0 , 0o• Time Category II Leaving at Stop #3 6 5 1 4 pRicards w2 V U rsuline 3 oW imbledon "a 2 q Other 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # 25 th of May 2000 Category I Arriving at S top 3 3.5 —*—A rriving Riccards 3 ts 2 5 n (Arriving School de 2 Ursuline Stu 1.5 Arriving School f W im bled on # o 1 -_ A rriving School 0 ther 0 5 A 0 , -n. 62, 64.--,-- Us , en , 0 o 0 A0 0 0 0 O O o 0 Tim e Category II Arriving at Stop #3 3.5 3 ts 2.5 pRicards n de 2 n Ursuline tu 1.5 oW im bledon f s # o 1 q 0ther 0.5 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # Category I Leaving at Stop #3 4.5 4 3.5 ts —4—Leaving Riccards n 3 de 2.5 2 - is—Leaving School f Stu 1.5 Ursuline # o 1 Leaving School 0.5 W im bledon 0 Leaving School Other .(5 .6) 00 09/ C9' • 05• 0b . Ot's. 0" . Time Category II Leaving at Stop #3 3.5 3 ts 2.5 Ricards n de 2 • Ursuline tu 1.5 0 Wimbledon f s # o 1 0 Other 0.5 0 57 93 131 163 200 219 bus # > " 43 ti,.. = ,... .1 rp • 0.• . ca) ..• mar ='. CD )*(:) CD tn '-'° CDC 0 > C,) ,- CDC.D'"*= CL- . .-..g0= Cr 0 , •-•;, :7;3 - ....-