We are Traffic: Creating Robust Bicycle and Pedestrian Count Programs

Krista Nordback, Ph.D., P.E.Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium

(OTREC)

Overview

• Introduction• Traffic Monitoring Programs• Non-Motorized Count Programs• Conclusions & Recommendations

INTRODUCTION

Why measure walking & biking?

Why measure walking & biking?

If we don’t count it, it doesn’t count.

Why measure walking & biking?

• Funding & policy decisions• To show change over time• Facility design• Planning (short-term, long-term, regional…)

• Economic impact• Public health• Safety

How many bike and walk?

• Surveys– National– Regional– Local

• Counts– Permanent– Short duration

What good are counts?

• Funding!• Facility Level– Change Over Time– Planning and Design– Safety Analysis

• Validate Regional Models• Prioritize Projects• Bicycle Miles Traveled

(BMT)

Signal Timing

Vehicle Delay

Kothuri, S. M., Reynolds, T., Monsere, C. M., & Koonce, P. (2013). Testing Strategies to Reduce Pedestrian Delay at Signalized Intersections. A Pilot Study in Portland, OR. Paper presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.

Signal Timing

Vehicle Delay

Kothuri, S. M., Reynolds, T., Monsere, C. M., & Koonce, P. (2013). Testing Strategies to Reduce Pedestrian Delay at Signalized Intersections. A Pilot Study in Portland, OR. Paper presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.

Pedestrian

What?

People actually bike here?

Yes! 200 per day

What? People actually walk here?

Yes!

400 per day

TRAFFIC MONITORINGPROGRAMS

State Traffic Monitoring

Metro Count Accessed 6/13/13 http://mtehelp.tech-metrocount.com/article.aspx?key=mc5805

Commonly inductive loops

Permanent Counters

Short Duration CountersCommonly pneumatic tubes

Colorado’s Permanent Counters

Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)

PERMANENT COUNT

PROGRAM

Colorado’s Short Duration Traffic Counts

CDOT OTIS Accessed 6/18/13 http://dtdapps.coloradodot.info/Otis/HighwayData#/ui/0/1/criteria/~/184.667/210.864

AADT

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

AADT

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

APPLY FACTORS

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

AADT

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

APPLY FACTORS

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

AADT

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

APPLY FACTORS

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

Use AADT to Estimate VMT

Sum (AADT X Segment Length) over network to compute Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)

COLORADO HIGHWAYS

Can we apply these methods to biking and

walking?

AADB: Annual Average Daily Bicyclists

AADT for bicyclists!

Traffic Monitoring Guide 2013:

Chapter 4 for Non-motorized Traffic

NON-MOTORIZED COUNT PROGRAMS

The TMG 2013 Approach

The TMG 2013 Approach

National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project

Manual Counts: 2 hours 5 to 7pm Tues, Wed, or Thurs in mid-September

http://bikepeddocumentation.org/

Passive Infrared Counters

Inductive loop counters in bike lanes

Combined Bicycle and Pedestrian Continuous Counter

Permanent Counters• Pedestrian

• Bicycle

InfraredVideo Image Recognition

Radar

Pressure Sensor

Inductive Loop Video Detection

Video Image Recognition

Microwave

Magnetometers

The TMG 2013 Approach

Permanent Count

Program

Permanent Count

Program

Geographic/Climate Zones

Urban vs. Rural

Annual Average Daily Bicyclists (AADB)

Volume Categories

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

AADB

Conti

nuou

s Co

unt S

tatio

ns Medium

High

600

200

Low

Traffic Monitoring Guide 2013 Update, Chapter 4.

Permanent Count

Program

Daily Patterns

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesd

ay

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

160%

180%

% o

f AAD

B

Colorado Example (Bikes only)

Hourly Commute Pattern

12:00 AM

1:00 AM

2:00 AM

3:00 AM

4:00 AM

5:00 AM

6:00 AM

7:00 AM

8:00 AM

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

12:00 PM

1:00 PM

2:00 PM

3:00 PM

4:00 PM

5:00 PM

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

8:00 PM

9:00 PM

10:00 PM

11:00 PM0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

% o

f AAD

B

City of Boulder Example (Bikes only)

Hourly Non-commute Pattern

0:001:00

2:003:00

4:005:00

6:007:00

8:009:00

10:0011:00

12:0013:00

14:0015:00

16:0017:00

18:0019:00

20:0021:00

22:0023:00

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Ave

rage

Hou

rly

Volu

me

Source: Pam Johnson, PSU

Permanent Count

Program

12 Possible groups

Commute

Non-Commute

In Between

3 Daily Patterns

12 Possible groups

Commute

Non-Commute

In Between

3 Daily Patterns 2 Weekly Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

12 Possible groups

Commute

Non-Commute

In Between

3 Daily Patterns 2 Weekly Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

2 Annual Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

12 Possible groups

Commute

Non-Commute

In Between

3 Daily Patterns 2 Weekly Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

2 Annual Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

12 Possible groups

Commute

Non-Commute

In Between

3 Daily Patterns 2 Weekly Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

2 Annual Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

12 Possible groups

Commute

Non-Commute

In Between

3 Daily Patterns 2 Weekly Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

2 Annual Patterns

Commute

Non-Commute

CommuteCommute

Urban PlainsNon-commuteUrban Plains

Non-commute

Mountain Non-commute

Mountain Non-commuteHigher

Week-ends?

Higher Week-ends?

Rural Mtn Trail?

Rural Mtn Trail?

Weekly PatternWeekly Pattern

LocationLocation

YesYes

NoNo

Permanent Count

Program

Factoring MethodAdapted from Traffic Monitoring Guide

AADB = Cknown* D * M

Cknown = 24-hour count

D = Daily FactorM = Monthly Factor

Factoring MethodAdapted from Traffic Monitoring Guide

AADB = Cknown* D * M

Cknown = 24-hour count

D = Daily FactorM = Monthly Factor

Monthly Factor

M = AADBMADB

whereMADB = Ave daily bike count in that month

Monthly Factor

M = AADBMADB

whereMADB = Ave daily bike count in that month

June

= 5001,000

Monthly Factor

M = AADBMADB

whereMADB = Ave daily bike count in that month

June

= 5001,000

= 0.5

Monthly Factor

M = AADBMADB

whereMADB = Ave daily bike count in that month

June

= 5001,000

= 0.5

Daily counts in June are twice AADB.

Groups:Mountain

Non-Commute

Front Range Non-

Commute CommuteJanuary 3.9 1.5

February 3.2 2.0March 1.3 1.2April 2.2 1.1 1.1May 1.0 0.8 0.9June 0.5 0.8 0.7July 0.4 0.8 0.8

August 0.5 0.7 0.7September 0.7 0.8 0.8

October 1.7 1.0 1.0November 1.5 1.4December 2.5 2.3

Colorado Monthly Factors

Permanent Count

Program

How many counters/group?

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 140%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Non-Commute Factors

Commute Counters

Average

Number of Counters

Prec

isio

n of

Mon

thly

Fac

tors

Permanent Count

Program

The TMG 2013 Approach

Time

The TMG 2013 Approach

Time

Space

The TMG 2013 Approach

Short Duration

Count Program

Short Duration

Count Program

Turning Movement Counts

Segment Count

A

B

Short Duration Counters• Pedestrian

• BicycleInfraredManual

Manual Pneumatic Tube Counters

Traffic Monitoring Guide 2013 Update, Chapter 4.

Short Duration

Count Program

Potential Selection Criteria

• Variety of facility types

Path On-street

Potential Selection Criteria

• Variety of land uses– Central business district

– Residential

– School/University

• Technology related criteria

Short Duration

Count Program

Count Duration

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 7000%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Count Duration (hours)

% E

rror

of A

AD

B Es

timat

es

Count Duration

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 7000%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Count Duration (hours)

% E

rror

of A

AD

B Es

timat

es

1 week

Short Duration

Count Program

Schedule Counts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 120%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Month

Abso

lute

% E

rror

in A

ADB

Estim

ates

Schedule Counts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 120%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Month

Abso

lute

% E

rror

in A

ADT

Estim

ate

May to October bestfor Midwestern Climate

The TMG 2013 Approach

Factoring MethodAdapted from Traffic Monitoring Guide

AADB = Cknown* D * M

Cknown = 24-hour count

D = Daily FactorM = Monthly Factor

AADB

VMT for

bicycles

CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

• Traffic Monitoring Guide Approach:– Permanent Count

Program– Short Duration Count

Program– Compute AADT for Bikes

and Pedestrians

On-line Guide

www.pdx.edu/ibpi/count

Recommendations

• Both permanent and short duration count programs are needed.

• Continuous counters are needed! • Prefer 1 week short count • Short duration counts in high volume months– May to October (Midwestern climates)

• Integrate bike/ped counts into traffic data for preservation and access

Balance Permanent and Short Duration Programs

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

Iterative Process

Iterative Process

Example

1st Year

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

1 Permanent Counter 20 Manual Count Sites

2nd Year

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

1 Permanent Counter 12 Automated Short Duration Sites (one week per site + transfer time)

Rotate 1 counter all summer

3rd Year

PERMANENT COUNT

PROGRAM

SHORT DURATION

COUNT PROGRAM

5 Permanent Counters 24 Automated Short Duration Sites (one week per site + transfer time)

Rotate 2 counters all summer

4th Year

PERMANENT COUNT

PROGRAM

SHORT DURATION COUNT PROGRAM

6 Permanent Counters 60 Automated Short Duration Sites (one week per site + transfer time)

Rotate 5 counters all summer

10th Year

PERMANENT COUNT PROGRAM

SHORT DURATION COUNT PROGRAM

14 Permanent Counters 360 Automated Short Duration Sites (one week per site) on 3 year rotation

Rotate 10 counters all summer on 3 year rotation

On-going Work• Colorado, Vermont, Minnesota, Oregon, North Carolina,

Washington State DOT’s are developing programs.• TRB Bike/Ped Data Subcommittee https://

sites.google.com/site/bikepeddata/home

• FHWA to include bike/ped counts in Travel Monitoring Analysis System (TMAS)

• NCHRP 07-19: Bike/Ped Data Methods & Technologies• Google Group for future discussion!• OTREC’s Bike/Ped Data Archive

TRB Bike/Ped Data Subcommittee

Questions?Krista Nordback

Nordback@pdx.edu503-725-2897

Guide to Bicycle & Pedestrian Count Programshttp://www.pdx.edu/ibpi/count