LexRides

[taylor]

hey folks
although we aren't 100% ready to start rolling out the volunteer train on this, I figured that we could get some good response out of the committed bike folks on the forum. so here's the deal...

ten years ago, a professor at UK studied bicycle traffic on campus for a whole day, counting and recording some general demographics of every person who entered or left campus from 16 different entry points for 12 hours. that data is the only comprehensive data we can cite when pushing for more bicycle facilities on campus. so we're going to do it all again.

on [b]September 30[/b] (it's a Tuesday), we will be recreating the original cordon count study at UK from approx 7:30am-7:30pm, give or take 30 minutes or so. [b]WE NEED VOLUNTEERS. LOTS OF THEM[/b] we plan to have volunteers sign up for two hour shifts - if you can do more than one, please do. it will decrease the number of shifts to fill (if noone did more than one shift, we would need ~90 volunteers).

volunteers will be provided with proper training, a free pizza dinner before the study and refreshments the day of. if you're interested or want more info, feel free to respond here or shoot me an email at johntaylorshelton[at]gmail[dot]com

thanks in advance to all!

[brokebike]

will bicyclists actually be approached and asked questions, or are the volunteers just doing a visual count and taking notes on perceived demographics?
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[hayduke]

Could you post a little more information, similar to brokebikes questions. I would potentially like to help out especially if it will increase UK's bike/pedestrian infrastructure. As an employee and bike commuter, there is a serious need for improvements. See www.uky.edu today for headlines concerning narrowing University Ave. down from four to two lanes with bike paths!!!

[taylor]

here is (basically) what volunteers would do:

stand on one of 15 street corners that make up the entrances to UK's campus with a clipboard and papers - on these papers will be a fairly basic template for the information we are collecting - these options will be abbreviated and will be circled to denote the applicable choices

-was the person entering or leaving campus
-were they riding in the road, on the sidewalk, in a bike lane and were the riding the correct direction or not
-were they wearing a helmet
-male or female
-approximate age (ranges will be something like 10 and under, 11-17, 18-30 and 30 and over)
-and we may have a what kind of bike question - road bike, hybrd, or mtn bike

we'll also have some general time intervals, but volunteers will not be required to mark the time every single time a bicyclist goes by - instead, mark every 5 or 10 minutes so that we have good numbers on each 5-10 minute interval.

I'm not sure if I've just made this more complicated than it needs to be. basically, you just stand on the corner, be attentive and write stuff down. sounds simple enough, no?

but like I said the first time, we will have a training session before the cordon count to clarify the actual procedure and stuff. don't let it dissuade any of you. let me know if you have any more questions...

[brokebike]

I would be willing to volunteer for an early shift... like, 7:30 - 9:30 am.
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[hayduke]

Count me in for working on the survey. I would prefer a 7:30-9:30AM give or take thirty minutes. Thanks.

[brokebike]

only 88 more volunteers to go!
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[taylor]

sweet! thanks you all! any more takers?

[rich1]

im in 8a-1p. i just need a reminder around the time of but ill help.
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[roller]

[sailorjames]

I'll help out with this, I can ask off for this day and carry a couple shifts. Will there be some kind of sheet somewhere to fill out what time slots we'd like to take? I could name a time now but i'll likely forget by the time the study comes around.

[taylor]

I'm taking note of what everyone says, so if you give a time, I'll write it down. when it gets closer to the study (week or two before) I'll repost the schedule as we have it filled out. hopefully we'll all be in closer contact before then, too

[metro biking]

Taylor and All -
I have received a listserv post from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals about a nationwide count being conducted in September. Text is copied below
Hi,
For those of you interested in contributing to a national bicycle and pedestrian count and survey effort, the next counts for National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project are scheduled for September 2008.
The methodology developed here is being used in all all four Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Projects (Marin, Minneapolis, Columbia, Sheboygan), under the approval/review of the FHWA/Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. It is also being used as part of the 2.5 year Caltrans research project in San Diego (Seamless Travel), and by agencies nationwide.
The basic assumptions of the methodology are that, in order to estimate existing and future bicycle and pedestrian demand and activity, agencies nationwide need to start conducting counts and surveys in a consistent manner similar to those being used by ITE and other groups for vehicle models.
You may download count instructions, tally sheets and other forms at Alta's website:
http://www.altaplanning.com/presentations+_+studies.aspx
Lauren
In case the efforts are a coincidence, I believe coordination between these two counts would be good for helping establish baseline bike use comparisons across US metro areas as well as Lex/UK Campus.
Again let me know what I can do to help; I have the Nationwide Count Descriptions, Instructions, and Forms in .pdf form for use or comparisons to the materials you are developing.
Look forward to helping out Taylor
Mike Galbraith
metro_biking@insightbb.com
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Metro Biking

[stringa]

i'm down for this. i'll ask for the day off, so i can work whenever you need me.
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ridin' a heavy bike makes you faster

[brokebike]

so, this is going down next Tuesday... correct?

If we're volunteering, is there anything we need to do or know about before then?
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