Bicycle counter

Last updated
Bicycle counter in Copenhagen, Denmark Cycle counter.jpg
Bicycle counter in Copenhagen, Denmark

Bicycle counters are devices that conduct a traffic count of passing bicycles. [1] [2] Some counters can also detect the speed, direction, and type of bicycles. [3] Most bicycle counters consist of a discrete sensor and a computing device to record and store the data although some also have a public-facing display to show the total number of cyclists of the current day and year. [1] Such systems (with the prominent display) are sometimes referred to as bicycle barometers. [4] There are bicycle counters in hundreds of cities around the world [5] . The first bicycle barometer was installed in Odense, Denmark, in 2002 [1] [4] though cities had been conducting systematic counts of cyclists at least as early as 1994. [6]

Contents

Persuasive aspects

Bicycle counters are mainly installed to assist city planning with reliable data on the development of bicycle usage. [7] [8] [9] However the use of bicycle barometers, or prominent displays associated with the count locations, can also serve to normalize cycling as a mode of transportation, encourage more people to use their bicycles [1] [2] [7] [10] and give cyclists acknowledgement. [4] [8] There has been no representative study on the impact of bicycle counters on citizens or by-passers, but some early empirical clues that urban visualizations can "become appropriate communication media for sharing, discussing, and co-producing socially relevant data". [11]

To increase visibility, bicycle counter with displays are mostly installed at positions with high traffic volume and visibility to a range of road users. [2] They have been called urban visualizations [11] and fulfill certain criteria of ambient intelligence, such as being embedded, context-aware and adaptive. [12] Bicycle counting stations can be described as persuasive technology. [13]

"Through sensing technology, a display can act as a tool that increases the capability to capture a behavior (e.g., measuring residential energy consumption, bicycle use, etc.); through its visual imagery, it can function as a medium that provides useful information, such as behavioral statistics or cause-and-effect relationships; and through its networking ability, it can become a social actor, encouraging community-based feedback and social interaction". [13]

Technical setup

Different techniques are used for detection of bicycles, such as built in induction loops, piezoelectric strips [14] , pneumatic hoses, [15] infrared sensing [5] or cameras. [2] Different setups provide different advantages such as more precise counting, battery life, [16] reduced costs or differentiation between different road users such as cyclists, pedestrians or cars. [17] Independent testing has shown that pneumatic tubes can record with over 95% accuracy [18] and piezoelectric sensors reach 99% accuracy. [16] Manufacturers state a 90% precision for induction loops. [5]

Data

Unlike manual counting or other bicycle related interventions or citizen science, where citizens manually put in data, [19] bicycle counting stations automatically generate citizen related data. [20] Automatic counting systems are said to be cheaper than manual counting by people. [9] Because of the use of communication technology in the urban context, bicycle counters can be counted as smart city technology, urban informatics or urban computing.

Criticism

There has been criticism on the precision of the counting [10] [21] and on the cost of bicycle counters as a waste of tax money. [21] [22] [23]

See also

Cycling barometer is also the name of a ranking by the European Cyclists' Federation for the most bicycle-friendly nations in the EU. [24]

There has been creative use of the data generated by counting stations, such as an information design poster which includes number of daily cyclists, precipitation and temperature. [25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 European Commission. "Bicycle barometers (bike counters)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Civitas initiative. "Measure Result - Integrating cycling with public transport in Malmo | CIVITAS". civitas.eu. Archived from the original on 2021-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  3. ↑ "Active Transport Monitoring". MetroCount. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  4. 1 2 3 Brooks, Karen (2014-09-22). "The magic of bike barometers". PeopleForBikes. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  5. 1 2 3 "Products". Eco-Counter. Archived from the original on 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  6. ↑ "Permanent Bicycle Counters". City of Toronto Open Data. 2025-01-30. Retrieved 2025-12-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. 1 2 "Fahrradbarometer". hamburg.adfc.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-03-21. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  8. 1 2 Magni, Marie (2012-06-06). "Cycle cities awarded bicycle counters". Cycling Embassy of Denmark. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  9. 1 2 Wein, Martin (29 December 2016). "Kennedybrücke in Bonn: Streit um Fahrradbarometer". GA BONN (in German). Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  10. 1 2 Hoeft, Antonia (2 May 2012). "Fahrradzähler bei der Wiwili-Brücke eingeweiht - Freiburg - fudder.de". fudder.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  11. 1 2 Moere, Andrew Vande; Hill, Dan (2012-04-01). "Designing for the Situated and Public Visualization of Urban Data". Journal of Urban Technology. 19 (2): 25–46. doi:10.1080/10630732.2012.698065. ISSN   1063-0732. S2CID   111348602.
  12. ↑ Pousman, Zachary; Stasko, John (2006). "A taxonomy of ambient information systems". Proceedings of the working conference on Advanced visual interfaces - AVI '06. Venezia, Italy: ACM Press. pp. 67–74. doi:10.1145/1133265.1133277. ISBN   978-1-59593-353-9. S2CID   5297964.
  13. 1 2 Claes, Sandy; Slegers, Karin; Vande Moere, Andrew (2016-05-07). "The Bicycle Barometer". Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. San Jose California USA: ACM. pp. 5824–5835. doi:10.1145/2858036.2858429. ISBN   978-1-4503-3362-7. S2CID   14648321.
  14. ↑ "RoadPod® VP". MetroCount. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  15. ↑ "RidePod® BT". MetroCount. 2016-09-12. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  16. 1 2 "Validation of MC5720 on Albert St, East Melbourne" (PDF). Sinclaire Knight Metz.
  17. ↑ Greene-Roesel, Ryan; Diogenes, Mara Chagas; Ragland, David R.; Lindau, Luis Antonio (2008-04-01), Effectiveness of a Commercially Available Automated Pedestrian Counting Device in Urban Environments: Comparison with Manual Counts
  18. ↑ "Test d'un compteur à tubes pneumatiques du type MetroCount 5620" (PDF). Centre de recherches routières (Belgique).
  19. ↑ Claes, Sandy; Slegers, Karin; Vande Moere, Andrew (2016-05-07). "The Bicycle Barometer". Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. San Jose California USA: ACM. pp. 5824–5835. doi:10.1145/2858036.2858429. ISBN   978-1-4503-3362-7. S2CID   14648321.
  20. ↑ "Home - Automated pedestrian & bicycle counters". Eco-Counter. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  21. 1 2 extra 3 (15 October 2015). "Realer Irrsinn: Fahrradzählstation in Hamburg | extra 3 | NDR". YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ↑ Wein, Martin (29 December 2016). "Kennedybrücke in Bonn: Streit um Fahrradbarometer". GA BONN (in German). Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  23. ↑ Hamburg, Hamburger Abendblatt- (2016-10-06). "Hier verschwendet Hamburg seine Steuergelder". www.abendblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  24. ↑ "ECF Cycling barometer | ECF". ecf.com. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  25. ↑ "Bicycle Barometer - Paste in Place". www.pasteinplace.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.