The lack of pedestrian and bicycle volume data is a barrier to transportation agency efforts to plan more effective facilities and to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Transportation agencies have well-established procedures for collecting, summarizing, and disseminating motor vehicle traffic volumes, but these procedures do not generally provide pedestrian and bicycle volume data. Most pedestrian and bicycle volume data collection is done for specific project locations after preliminary selection of candidate project locations has been made. The lack of system-wide pedestrian and bicycle volume data limits the ability of transportation agencies to provide or improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities where the need is greatest and is an impediment to developing better predictive methods for pedestrian and bicycle crashes. Many potential sources of pedestrian and bicycle volume data are not being used. The feasibility of using these sources, including addressing privacy and security issues and extrapolating to estimate 24-hour counts and annual counts, needed to be investigated. Once investigated, guidance for practitioners on the use of existing, new, and innovative methods and technologies could be developed. Under NCHRP Project 07-19, “Methods and Technologies for Collecting Pedestrian and Bicycle Volume Data,” a research team led by Kittelson & Associates, Inc., assessed new data sources and new technologies for obtaining pedestrian and bicycle volume data for use in system-wide needs assessments, project development, and safety management. The team tested and evaluated a range of automated count technologies focusing on different count settings (i.e., ranges of temperature, varying weather conditions, mixed traffic conditions, mixed travel directions, and different facility types) to determine their accuracy and reliability in the different contexts. Research results have been documented in two publications. This Guidebook is geared to the application of results by practitioners. NWOD 205, which can be found on the TRB website, is recommended reading for those interested in the details of the research that led to the Guidebook. NCHRP Report 797: Guidebook on Pedestrian and Bicycle Volume Data Collection is directed to practitioners involved in collecting non-motorized count data. The Guidebook (1) describes methods and technologies for counting pedestrians and bicyclists, (2) offers guidance on developing a non-motorized count program, (3) gives suggestions on selecting appropriate counting methods and technologies, and (4) provides examples of how organizations have used non-motorized count data to better fulfil their missions. The research behind the Guidebook can be found on the TRB website as NCHRP Web-Only Document 205: Methods and Technologies for Pedestrian and Bicycle Volume Data Collection(NWOD 205). NWOD 205 includes the results of the testing and evaluation of a range of automated count technologies that capture pedestrian and bicycle volume data. To review the research methods used to develop the guidebook, refer to http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/171974.aspx. (Author/publisher)
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