Bike to the Future has been doing spring bicycle counts for the past 4 years. These counts are useful for a variety of purposes - to document trends in bicycle riding, to get a sense of the actual numbers of cyclists who travel along major routes in the city, and to provide before & after counts when new bicycle paths, bike lanes or other improvements are made. Although the City of Winnipeg has also done some bicycle counts, these have been few and far between. We are hoping this will change in the future, but in the meantime we are depending on volunteers to carry out the counts. I was wondering if some members of the Winnipeg Cycling Club might be interested in volunteering to help with this effort, and if you could publicize it among your members?
Our counts focus on commuter cycling and take place either during the morning or afternoon rush hour on a mid-week day in order to get typical counts. Each count lasts for 2 hours. Volunteers are asked to do one count (or more if they are able) at selected counting locations around the city. The choice of location depends on the convenience of the volunteer and on where it would be most useful to have data. We have already done two rounds of counting this spring and are about to do a third round this week, on June 1, 2 and 3 (Tuesday-Thursday). There is also a special count on Bike to Work Day, June 25 this year. Although this is short notice I would be happy to hear from anyone interested in volunteering. I will provide them with instructions and forms and work out times and locations with them by email.
As I say, we have been focusing on commuter cycling and commuter routes, but it would also be an idea to expand beyond this to look at recreational cycling routes, particularly as more cycling paths are being developed in the city. This might be more in keeping with the interests of your club. In this case we might want to do counts at different times during the week, rather than rush hour on weekdays, and we might want to select locations that are heavily used for recreation, or where new paths are being planned. If you are interested in this angle, please let me know. I may not have the time to take on a big expansion of the counting effort, but I would be happy to work with your club to help get it organized.
Let me know if you have any questions about this or would like an additional information.
Jeremy Hull
Bike to the Future
PS Our counts since 2007 have suggested that cycling increased by 25% in 2008, then declined by 10% in 2009, and have increased again by 20% in 2010, based on counts at comparable times and locations from year to year. Overall this would mean there has been a 34% increase in cycling since 2007.
