Conducting Bicycle Counts_McCarthy

CONSIDERING SIDEWALK RIDING

CONDUCTING BICYCLE COUNTS

Jakob Rooney and Lev McCarthy, University of Vermont ‘15City of Burlington Department of Public Works

December 5, 2014

Prepared For:City of BurlingtonDepartment of Public Works (DPW)

Nicole LoschTransportation Planner / Pedestrian & Bicycle Program Manager

Prepared By:Lev McCarthylimccart@uvm.edu

Jakob Rooney jakob.rooney@gmail.com

December 2014

Conducting Bicycle Counts Considering Sidewalk Riding

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CONTENTS

• Introduction • Goals• Existing Methods • Burlington, VT • Our Methods • Results• Recommendations

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INTRODUCTION

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GOALS

•Use bicycle counting and observation to better understand sidewalk riding behavior.

•To analyze existing bicycle counting methodology, experiment with different methods, and develop a counting method that includes sidewalk riders.

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EXISTING METHODS

● Video monitoring● Pressure pads● Tubes

● Manual counts○ mechanical counters ○ tally sheets

6Van der Horst et al., 2014

Diamond Traffic Products

EXISTING METHODS

Screenline counts Intersection turning movement counts

Source: PSU Guide to Bicycle & Pedestrian Count Programs

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BURLINGTON

Projects led by CCRPC •Due to technical limitations, the automated counters only have been used on shared-use paths and other areas where bicycle/pedestrians are physically separated from the roadway.•Video monitoring has been used to gauge the accuracy of tube counters.

Source: CCRPC Turning Traffic Data

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NORTH ST.

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NORTH ST.

Intersections: North St - N Winooski Ave &North St - Elmwood Ave

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OUR METHODS

● paper observation forms

● pilot week

● scheduling for on-site observation○ peak hours

● compiling and organizing observations

● revising observation sheet ○ Google spreadsheet

● route tracking

● statistical analysis

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OBSERVATIONS

Total bicycle count = 359Hours on site = 14Ave. bicycles per hour = 26

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RESULTS

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RECOMMENDATIONS

● Establish sites for repeated counts ○ on-road○ utilitarian routes

● Include observations on sidewalk riding in bicycle count methods○ the raw count is not the whole story

● Compare sidewalk riding counts on roads with and without infrastructure

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THANK YOULev McCarthy - limccart@uvm.edu Jakob Rooney -

Jakob.Rooney@gmail.com

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