My forum
CycleSafe Bathurst => CycleSafe Bathurst Discussion => Topic started by: Mark on March 17, 2021, 01:27:08 PM
-
Calling for Assistance to compile statistics on Off-Road Cycling Paths usage in Bathurst:
The first of the RMS Western Region Bicycle Forums took place around 2009. One of the Session that happen annually at this forum was the discussion on stats and figures on Cycling Accidents and other cycling matters in the region. Josh Parkin (Leader Network Optimisation Planning) has often lead this discussion and it spurred me into attempt to keep my own local figures, specific to the Bathurst region.
Some of the details I tried to monitor have been local cycling accidents, local cycling event participation, numbers of riders on local bike paths, numbers of commuters riding to work/study.
A talk by RMS Head Office’s Brad Donaldson (Sustainable Transport), in 2013 further highlighted the importance of these figures as he explained the RMS had battled to get specific figures on safety and participation, as general bicycle movements across recreation commuter competition.. etc had been difficult to compile.
This was the case with my own figures with the methods a bit haphazard - The accident figures where simply compiled from keeping my eyes open while been active in the cycling community. The Cycling Commuter levels simply evaluated from counting the number of bikes parked at a number of locations around the city. Path usage by simply counting the numbers on the path when going for a jog. These numbers where simply added to a spread sheet on my computer which sadly didn’t connect too any extra auxiliary day on locations and conditions.
However a talk by Steve Martin at the forum on measuring cycling activity on Strava Heat maps suggested that simply adding the figures to a Strava recording as a note will add metadata for location, time, conditions… etc for my records and therefore making the stats more worthwhile. In fact now I am keen to open up this data capture to others to widen the monitoring of cycling activity in the region. You just need to have a Strava login, a Smartphone and a bit of time to go for a walk or ride on one of our bike paths.
Method:
Simply record your journey on the Strava App. and then add the numbers of other users you counted on a section of bike path in the comments field (Tip-I change the sport to Hike to be able to select out all the activities with comments). Now I generally count and record the number of people while on the path for around 12min while running in one direction. However worth remembering the data will be presented as the number of users on a section of Path at that point in time, which means that you are moving while counting and counting users travelling in both directions, so ensure you do not count users twice or waiting to long to record path users as it is supposed to be a snapshot. You can count while stationary but more on that later.
Evaluating the Data.
I like to have a minimum of 5 recording in a set period eg Christmas Holidays.
Now there are 2 methods currently being investigated:-
No1 - Divide the number recorded into the distance travelled in Kilometres to get users per kilometre..
However I prefer No2 -- Identify a section of path (eg Knowles Path approx 1.4km) and record the numbers on that piece of path.
What do you count?
At a minimum I count total users and divide them into Pedestrians and Cyclists. I also like to divide cyclists into Adults and Kids (mainly to indicate Recreational vs Training). I also have started identifying if Adults are carrying a bag or panniers and even types of bike but there is only so much you can remember.
What to do with the Data:
Please send any data or inquires to CycleSafeBathurst – you can simply email to cyclesafebathurst@gmail.com
Hoping to hear from you - Mark Windsor (Vice President CycleSafeBathurst).