The city has released results of its first Bicycle Count and says the cycling data will help to determine trends among riders and plan bikeways in the future.
Information on rider’s gender, age and helmet use was collected from 51 locations around the city during the morning and evening commute.
“The data which has been collected is similar to that of the City of Calgary Bicycle Program Yearbook released earlier this year, but provides more comprehensive detail and analysis,” said Ekke Kok, Manager of Transportation Data.
The city used manual counts by data technicians, video camera counts, tube counts, and automated counters to keep track of cyclists.
Some of the findings in the report include:
- Over 19,000 cyclists were counted at 51 locations
- The busiest count location was where the Bow River Pathway meets Crowchild Trail S.W., with 2,787 cyclists during a six hour time frame
- 86% of cyclists were wearing helmets
- 79% of cyclists were men, while 21% were women
- Over 55% of cyclists were seen in 13 city locations
- Peak hours for cycling were between 4:45 and 5:45 p.m.
- Less than 3% of cyclists are under 18 or over 65
The city says it will use the results as a baseline for changes in the future.
“The Bicycle Count report is a best practice of bike-friendly cities in North America. By conducting a trend analysis of the number of cyclists in Calgary, broken down by gender, age and helmet use, we can monitor the demographic trends of bicycle riders across the city,” said Bicycle Coordinator, Thomas Thivener.
Click HERE to see the City of Calgary 2013 Bicycle Count.
