Ride Out and Be Counted

How many people in San Diego ride? How many more, or fewer, are riding a particular road or path, compared to a previous month or year? The usual measure and mark for annual comparison in the region is the number of registered and/or counted riders for Bike to Work Day.

A single day’s count based on one special event, where ridership can be so influenced by such factors as weather (as opposed to climate), or the effectiveness of an outreach campaign, is not the most stable of bases for sober, well-considered decisions about the allocation of transportation funds. Thus, it was with considerable pleasure I learned from Carlos and Luis (pictured left) that their work on the Rose Canyon Bike Path on Wednesday, 22 August 2012, was installing an automatic bike counter.

I am not so optimistic as to believe we’ll soon be hearing mean speed and traffic counts for bicycle facilities included in rush hour traffic reports, but this could mean better, long-term documentation of bike riding numbers on San Diego County’s bike facilities and roads.

Robert Leone is a member of Knickerbikers, San Diego’s Bicycle Touring Club and board member at the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.