Second batch of Richmond bike/ped counts wrap up!
Many thanks to every one of our volunteers who helped make the Richmond Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project possible. The results of our second count are in! We appreciate your time and effort; the data you collected is invaluable to us. The high rate of volunteerism for a project like this just goes to show how much interest there is in Chesterfield County, and in the Richmond region, for improved bike- and pedestrian-friendly streets.
A count volunteer during a similar project in Minneapolis.
Some background and methodology:
The results from the count dates are being used to evaluate different areas in the city where bike or pedestrian infrastructure should be built. In May 2014, over the course of three days (May 6-8), volunteers signed up to count pedestrians and bicyclists during a two-hour window. The volunteer sat at a location and counted each pedestrian or bicyclist as they went by in fifteen minute increments. The same survey recently done in September was extended to five days (September 9-11 and 13-14). The data indicate similar averages between May and September. A steady increase is noted at some of the more populated locations: Floyd Avenue between Meadow and Granby, both Broad Street locations, MLK viaduct, Brook Rd, and W Leigh St near the Redskins Training Center. Some locations increased in the number of bicyclists and decreased in the number of pedestrians: Franklin Street and N Boulevard. Grayland Avenue and Forest Hill at Crossroads observed higher numbers in pedestrians and lower numbers in bicyclists. Some locations also remain fairly unpopular according to the data: Cannon Creek Greenway and Manchester Bridge had the least amount of traffic.
The results Septembers counts of bicycle and pedestrian traffic largely validated the counts taken in May, but we expect that as projects are completed in the coming months, certain areas will see a dramatic rise in bike riders and/or pedestrians. This baseline data is very important for demonstrating these changes with data.
Stay tuned for more info on the results of our first counting project in Chesterfield County, a partnership with Chesterfield’s Department of Planning!