Establishing an Automated Regional Non-Motorized Transportation Data Collection System to Support Active Transportation Performance Monitoring

This paper describes an effort underway in San Diego to establish a regional non-motorized data collection system in support of long-range planning for bicycle and pedestrian systems. Planners, engineers, and advocates increasingly recognize the need for accurate counts to inform investments in pedestrian and bicycle facilities. There are currently gaps in the literature about methods for determining where non-motorized counting should occur, over what time periods, and how to use automated counts to develop adjustment factors. This paper describes one region’s efforts to link performance monitoring to regional transportation planning by establishing a network of automated bicycle and pedestrian count stations along the regional bicycle network, which was recently adopted in the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan. The count station siting methodology employed a multi-step process where the regional bicycle network was segmented, and then stratified sampling employed to select a subset of bicycle network segments where counters would be installed. The siting methodology first established a comprehensive network of count stations representing ultimate coverage of the regional bicycle network (170 count stations). Then a subset of representative locations was selected for phase one count program implementation (35 counts stations). To date, count equipment has been installed at 17 locations and the remainder will be installed by September 2012. When fully implemented, this counting program will be one of the most comprehensive automated data collection systems of any in the nation. The paper focuses on siting methodologies, validation of automated counts, and using counts for non-motorized performance monitoring.