BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I can cover the Millvale Street Bridge on both Thursday morning and Thursday evening

I'm down for 21st and Smallman, morning and afternoon. Do you need 15 minute counts, or simply a total number for each of the two hour blocks?

If you can do 15 minute counts (meaning you count from 4:30 to 4:45, and from 4:45 to 5:00, and add the numbers to get a total in the end) it gives us better data in that it allows us to find the true "activity peaks" at that location. But, if that's too intimidating for first time counters, 30 minute, hourly or even a just a total will be fine. All this will be covered in the directions that I'll send out/post before Monday.

I can take birmingham bridge Monday and Thursday, both shifts.

I can do Ellsworth @ Aiken Monday a.m.

@pseudocris - can you PM me with an email address, so I can send you a worksheet and instructions?

@swalfoort :: just did it.

Counts start on Monday! Pseudocris and I will be out in the morning, a co-worker of mine (and perhaps others) will be out in the afternoon. Hope for good weather!

For those of you who have sent me PM's with your email addresses, you can expect to receive your worksheets and instructions on Monday. @Bikelove, I didn't get an email address for you, so can you just do afternoon counts at Birmingham Bridge on Monday? We'll do morning counts there another day.

Thanks!

Sounds good. I'll PM you my email now.

In case anyone's curious...

156 bikes passed through Ellsworth @ Aiken between 7:30 & 9:30 this morning!

109 males. 103 helmet wearers.

156 bikes passed through Ellsworth @ Aiken between 7:30 & 9:30 this morning

One of them was me. I pointed which way I was going when I was stopped at the light.

@Rsprake - you are the third person to let me know you were counted. That's great!

Thanks to Hyla and Mark for their services this morning!

For the record, 51 bikes passed by the Doughboy Square statue during the same 7:30 to 9:30 window.

I was counted too. I didn't the initial thread about this, and thought "why are those people tailgating on the corner?"

@Rsprake: thanks for the "point." Made me laugh!

@bjanaszek: if the tailgaters were in orange chairs, twas me. Was not able to pull together a black n gold theme (borrowed furniture)

hm, i neglected to ride by somewhere where i could be counted... although i guess going (slightly) out of my way just for that purpose is technically skewing the results.

@salty - we'll be counting all week. You never know, you may be counted yet. I hope to get 12-15 locations done in both the morning and afternoon peak hours this week. Watch for your volunteer bike counter at intersections throughout the City!

I'm counting bikes on railroad, smallman and penn this morning.

Sloaps, you rock! I thought you said Wednesday was the only day that worked for you??

No. I wanted to, because Wednesdays are the 'textbook' days for counts, but I got busy with work.

Morning Counts for Penn, Smallman and Railroad AT 21st Street in the Strip District.

Sloaps - much busier than I anticipated! Yay!

For the rest of you, Sloaps used the "professional" model of the spreadsheet -- for advanced users! We use a slightly simpler version for the N00bs!

ah, if you had been 2 hours later, I'd have been counted.

Swalfoort, would you like a bike count at my office building? There are a number of us who ride and store our bikes at our desks and there is also a three rivers rack in the parking garage that is seeing use since it was installed.

@Rsprake -- YES. Bikes that disappear into offices are probably the hardest to count. Please do a count for me! Thanks.

Nicely done with the "red light runners" section.

Morning Counts for Penn, Smallman and Railroad AT 21st Street in the Strip District.

Afternoon Counts for Penn, Smallman and Railroad AT 21st Street in the Strip District

Some associated observations:

All Red Light Running Cyclists performed an "Idaho Stop." Some took the adjacent crosswalk to skirt through the intersection, the rest simply went straight through without changing lanes.

All Motor Vehicle Red Light Runners were fully within the "box" when their signal was red - no halfsies.

From a cursory review of morning and afternoon counts, most cyclists commute inbound on Penn and outbound on Smallman.

Most Red Light Running Cyclists are male.

I love the anecdotal information that these counts generate.....!

Thanks, sloaps!

7th street bridge 4:30 - 6:30 today

63 people on cyclist

49 men

14 women

31 wearing helmets

32 not wearing hemlets

25 riding on the street

38 riding on the sidewalk (most people coming across the bridge or going across the bridge took the sidewalk)

also saw

27 joggers

5 homeless guys

1 jay walker

6 drivers giving the finger

4 sk8ter boiz

1 electric scooter

1 bull dozer

2 wheel chairs

1 bike on bus rack

2 bikes on car racks

oh and a partridge in a pear tree.

will be doing 6th st bridge tomorrow, if your in town stop by and say hi. ill be the big guy marking everything down.

I find the lack of helmets and riding on sidewalks disturbing.

Is anyone counting on Liberty between Baum & 32nd? Just wondering if Penn sees more inbound traffic vs the Liberty bike lane.

@dback - I crossed the Sixth Street Bridge inbound about 5 p.m. and looked for you, but didn't know your schedule, so didn't look too hard. Did a double take at a guy in a suit that was punching info into an Iphone, and a quasi-homeless guy sitting on a windowsill at Braddocks, near a parked bike. But, figuered neither was probably you.

Love the detail. Reminds me of some of the notes that I make to myself when I count.

As for riding on the sidewalks, I confess that I frequently ride the sidewalk when crossing the Seventh Street Bridge (and only that bridge). In the outbound direction, I would be coming from the bike parking facility on Seventh. Crossing inbound traffic to merge with a half block of outbound traffic sitting at a light is a total pain. I prefer to ride the sidewalk (past the old Rosebud) and onto the bridge. Inbound, I am either coming from the North Shore Trail from Millvale, and taking the ramp at the Alcoa building to the bridge. A tight turn off the ramp puts me on the sidewalk heading into town. It's easier than making my way to the curb cut and then crossing two lanes of traffic and sitting in traffic with a lot of buses at the lights on the downtown side (in the morning). When coming from home, I'd be in the street, after coming around Allegheny Center Mall.

@Quizbot - Hope to get a count along the Liberty Avenue Business District in Bloomfield. Might have to wait until next week though. I was thinking that stationing someone on the steps of Immaculate Conception Church (is that Pearl Street, maybe?) would give a good view of Liberty in each direction. It's funny, when doing these counts, being right on the edge of the road is not always the best vantage point. Cars and buses obscure your view (or pedestrians who congregate in your line of sight), and bike move incredibly fast sometimes. Almost everytime I do a count I have at least one experience of "holy crap, where did that bike come from...." So being able to see the roadway for a couple of seconds worth of travel time helps.

sixth street today,

I write all of the other stuff down to keep from getting bored.

6th st bridge this afternoon. just want to say 2 things before I go to bed.

1. Come on girls I know your out there, why do I see so few of you.

2. Put your FREAKING HELMETS ON!!!! a little part of me just wants to start throwing rocks as the people who don't wear helmets. (not big rocks like cinderblocks, just little ones to get their attention, you know like bricks.)

Im almost ashamed to turn the numbers in between the Im to good (or clueless) for a helmet and the I'm downtown and the cars scare me so of course im going to ride on the SIDEWALK (today I was smart enough not to count those who went across the bridge on the sidewalk but how they rode on the other roads.

Taking the sidewalk on a bridge is totally legit. If you're in the lane and someone squeezes you, you have nowhere to go. Likewise, if you're on the far side of the hump and some asshole tears up the bridge, he may not see you in time after cresting the hump...

I don't have money for a helmet right now, what with the $400 I owe the gas company, my way-too-expensive rent, and saving up for a security deposit/first months rent on a new place. I have intentions of buying one once I'm all settled though. I think at least a few other helmetless riders are like that.

also, I take the sidewalks on bridges if they're empty, because I'm slow.

Bridges as long as the three sisters aren't business districts (are they?), so it probably is legit.

Legal or not, I don't think anyone would give you any grief if you're courteous to others while on said sidewalk.

never had a problem, really. I usually make loud noises, whether by pedalling backwards for a minute, loudly releasing my brake levers, or just yelling that I'm behind a person. Not into sneak attacks, heh.

"Legal or not, I don't think anyone would give you any grief if you're courteous to others while (insert any reasonably foreseeable public situation)."

A lot of people on earth just need to go back to kindergarten and learn this.

IN THE EVENT OF LIGHTENING, discontinue any counting activity and seek shelter, please......

I know we have a couple of people who have volunteered to stand around doing counts this afternoon. Personal safety is much more important that getting counts. I don't want to have people standing on corners if there is active lightening in the area. We can reschedule counts for another day or another week. Thanks!

oh I wasn't complaining about being on the sidewalk while on the bridge (which was why I changed the way I counted) I cross bridges on the sidewalk as well as the idea of being squeezed between a car and the side of the bridge with nowhere to go scares me.

RubberFactory - I understand what you are saying, just having bounced off the pavement a couple times, I find myself sensitized to the whole helmet thing.

I crashed into a steel fence last november, and luckily It was no worse that stitches all over my face (my own fault, misjudged turning distance+braking time), and that was what sort of opened my eyes as to why helmets exists, heh.

so with a head cold and rain I'm not counting today like I was planning. I'm also stuck working a double tomorrow. Is there a "deadline"?

A helmet doesn't have to be fancy and expensive to be good. The pryme skate helmets at thick are only 20 something bucks and are perfect for commuting in the fall and winter.

No deadline on the counts. We will continue counting until the weather turns cooler and the days get short enough that casual riders start to stay home -- usually mid-October. So, if you can do a count next week, that would be great. If not, I understand, and thanks for all your good intentions....!

yay for still being able to count !

I'd actually really like to count in the rain, without a cold that is. It'd be interesting to see the difference in commuters on a nice day vs. a rainy day.

As for helmets, I got mine at REI.com, on clearence for like $20, with free site to store shipping.

A helmet doesn't have to be fancy and expensive to be good. The pryme skate helmets at thick are only 20 something bucks and are perfect for commuting in the fall and winter.

True, but generic excuse of bills/rent/student loans/etc.

Check the stats on Ellsworth Avenue at Aiken Avenue this afternoon.

The numbers won't exactly square... I think I saw every cyclist who came along, but many seemed to come in twos or threes, and I got a little flustered trying to write it before I forgot. That was just a little harder than I had anticipated. The numbers aren't that far off in any case. All will be glad to learn that I had very high rates of helmetage.

I found a nice porch that nobody minded I sit under, and kept counting even during the sometimes-heavy rain. We do have some serious cyclists here in Pittsburgh. The numbers picked up a little when the rain would lighten up, but I guess I don't know how many people were making relatively short trips, waiting for the rain to ease, and how many were just caught up out a longer ride.

Other statistics that didn't fit onto the spreadsheet:

The red light thing was kind of hit or miss. Would have been a lot higher if I had strictly counted all rolling-right turn "stops." Most cyclists were getting an early start on the green, while cars were sailing too late for a yellow signal.

Drivers I recognized: 1

Pedestrians I recognized: 2

Cyclists I recognized and knew from the Bike Pgh boards: 4 (Ryan S., Lou F., Will, and Joe F.)

Recognition by any of those seven: None. I don't think any of them saw me there. It's like I was invisible.

I like what Ieverheart did +1

Here is the link to my data as well

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AlymzMQKbijddFBFa0NWVXdfVnhhckd0a1I5SEQyeGc&hl=en&output=html

Hoping to get 9th street bridge as well early next week. and as ieverhart said it was like I was invisible.

I saw you at the 7th Street Br that day about 5:45! You were almost invisible, I was looking for you but didn't notice you until I was past the intersection, I go straight on Ft D Blvd. You were in the shadows, but as I looked over I noticed you turn to make your notation, with what looked like a slight shake of your head ! (I don't wear a helmit)

@Ian - It seems so simple to go out and count bikes, doesn't it? No worries about the occasional missed bike or double counted cyclist. We want our counts to be as accurate as possible, but want to focus on count integrity, rather that absolute data accuracy, if that makes sense.

I had 100% helmeted riders, and none broke any traffic laws whatsoever! Then again, I think I only saw about 9 riders (info is in my bag, I'm headed out), and I swear three of them were a guy doing laps. Laps of what, I don't know, but almost everybody past my intersection looked the same. I did not see Professor Tweed or the Prom King (my good natured nicknames for two cyclists I know go through there every day).

Washington Blvd / ARB / Butler. And those decorative iron things on either side of the Asphalt plant driveway? Those are bridge decorations from the Murray ave over Beechwood bridge in squ'ill (says so on back). Not sure how they got there, but they definitely were originally intended for elsewhere. Also the Army Corps of Engineers guys working on the Lock are pretty cool.

Wow! Those suburbanites ARE different (all helmets, no law breaking....) Thanks for the info on the iron things. I've often wondered what they are.

swalfoort - I think it's not so much the suburbanites, as it is the intimidating intersection - run that red and an SUV WILL give you a 40mph smackdown, guaranteed.

I did notice two things that would make that intersection a lot safer - the first is to clean out a speedbump made of gravel and mud at the foot of the asphalt plant driveway (not sure if this is city or asphalt plant people or DPW territory, but they should all be irritated at it - 100% of vehicles spun their back tires on it while pulling in to traffic). The second would be to put up a "no turn on red" sign for that same drive - they trip the sensor to give them a green arrow, but the vehicles have long since spun tires and pulled into speeding, turning traffic amidst honking and close calls. The green appears at the end of the cycle and nothing moves (because it already did). Just feeds frustration on the part of EVERYbody. If they just waited for their green, there'd be no issues.

Wouldn't help cyclists, but I'm holding out for some rails->trails or shared use lovin' closer to the river.

I wanted to be sure to thank all the great folks who served as bike count volunteers this fall.

Nine people, most of them recruited from this message board, completed at least one two-hour bike count AND reported their data back either to me personally via email, or via this board.

We decided that we'd like to offer up a token of our appreciation for the time these folks donated to this project. I've offered up two Groupons to the Over the Bar Bicycle Cafe on the South Side to be awarded via drawing of participants' names.

For each count that an individual completed, their name was put into a hat. If you completed two counts, your name was entered twice, etc. In the end, the hat contained 16 names. While having multiple entries increased your odds of winning one of the "prizes" we decided that in fairness, and because no one was expecting ANYTHING in terms of compensation, we would award only one groupon certificate to any one person. You could not win BOTH certificates, in other words, no matter how many counts you completed.

So, the winners of $20 certificates to Over the Bar Bicycle Cafe are Nat Hayes (aka Sloaps) who completed multiple counts in the Strip District, and Eleanor Wilson (aka Ejwme) who completed a morning count at Allegheny River Boulevard and Washington Boulevard/Butler. If you get in touch with me via PM or email, I'll get the certificates to you. If you don't want them for any reason, let me know, and I'll pull a new name. In full disclosure, the certficates must be used by January 21, 2011 and are good for "food, craft beer and more......"

Congratulations to the winners, and again, many thanks to everyone who contributed.

Sweet. I'm curious to know what a groupon for "and more..." can deliver.

I'm curious how the counts came out. Can you share the final document Sara? Thanks!