Improving data resources to support bicycle and pedestrian investments is a focus area for FHWA. The Bicycle-Pedestrian Count Technology Pilot Project is a research and technology deployment effort to identify organizational and technical capacity needs at MPOs, develop resources for addressing these needs, and transfer lessons learned across the country. The end result will increase the capacity of Metropolitan Planning Organizations to establish and operate bicycle and pedestrian counting programs. The project is being conducted with the direct participation of ten MPOs with other interested MPOs shadowing the project.
The project will fund the purchase of a limited number of automatic counters that will be used to collect counts of bicyclists and pedestrians at various locations within each MPO planning area, and will provide limited funds to compensate some of the cost of staff time to initiate and oversee a counting program for deploying the counters, collecting counts, and analyzing the results. The participating MPOs will have access to a series of internal webinars and other technical assistance opportunities. The MPOs will collect bicycle and pedestrian counts over a period of one year and will share their data and experiences with FHWA. Based on that experience, FHWA will develop case studies, training materials and other resources to increase the ability of MPOs to collect and use bicycle and pedestrian count data.
For more information on the Bicycle-Pedestrian Count Technology Pilot Project, contact Dan Goodman (daniel.goodman@dot.gov, 202-366-9064) or Jeremy Raw (jeremy.raw@dot.gov, 202-366-0986).
The MPOs directly participating in the project include:
The project will develop some new materials to support bicycle and pedestrian counting. These materials will be made available to other agencies and the public, and will include recorded webinars, training materials, and lessons learned on how to establish an effective regional bicycle and pedestrian counting program. A link to these materials will be provided on this page as they are released. The new materials will build on existing resources that are currently available:
