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2009 Count Dates:

Count and survey days for 2009 have passed.  The next count/survey days are during the week of January 11, 2010.

  • Tuesday, January 12 through Thursday, January 14
  • Saturday, January 16 through Sunday, January 17

About

One of the greatest challenges facing the bicycle and pedestrian field is the lack of documentation on usage and demand. Without accurate and consistent demand and usage figures, it is difficult to measure the positive benefits of investments in these modes, especially when compared to the other transportation modes such as the private automobile. An answer to this need for data is the National Bicycle & Pedestrian Documentation Project, co-sponsored by and Alta Planning and Design and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Pedestrian and Bicycle Council. This nationwide effort provides consistent model of data collection and ongoing data for use by planners, governments, and bicycle and pedestrian professionals.

Methodology

The basic assumptions of the methodology are that, in order to estimate existing and future bicycle and pedestrian demand and activity, agencies nationwide need to start conducting counts and surveys in a consistent manner similar to those being used by ITE and other groups for motor vehicle models.


News

  • Is there value in counting bikes and pedestrians?  According to the City of San Jose there is!  The San Jose Parks website reports the influence of counts on their program: http://www.sjparks.org/Trails/TrailCount.asp  
  • NBPD would like to thank the many agencies who sent us data and are excited about the great work done!  For example:
    •   Ithaca, NY counted over 1,800 bicycles and pedestrians in a two-hour period - at one intersection! 
    •   Using our extrapolation methods, recent counts at the Capitol Square in Columbus, OH would translate into 560,000 pedestrian trips annually!
  • In early August of 2009, Mid America Regional Council hosted a training called "By the Numbers." 25 people attended the "train the trainers" session which covered bicycle survey techniques, intersection and screenline counts methodology as well as an overview of the NBPD project.  Kansas City and its surrounding communities left the training very excited about participating in the September 2009 counts and setting up a region-wide program to gather accurate numbers on biking and walking in the Kansas City area. For more information, or to schedule a training course, contact Lauren Ledbetter at laurenledbetter@altaplanning.com.
  • Adjustment Factors Available:  While more year-long automatic count data is needed from different parts of the country, and especially for pedestrians and on-street bicyclists, enough data now exists to allow us to adjust counts done almost any period on multi-use paths and pedestrian districts to an annual figure. Those adjustment factors are available here.

Questions or Comments?

Email us at: info@bikepeddocumentation.org

New Available Documents