Someday soon, this counter will go into operation at the south end of the Burrard Street Bridge.
This year’s planned max: 99,999,999
Today’s planned max: 999,999
.
Article Categories
Archives (2003-13)
Recent Articles
Recent Episodes
- Podcast
- Events
- Support
- About Viewpoint Vancouver
- City Elections 2022
- Climate Change
- COVID Place making
- The Livable Region
- Transportation
- Urbanism
- All The Livable Region
- Business & Economy
- Energy & Resources
- Governance & Politics
- Housing
- All Transportation
- Cycling
- Infrastructure
- Motordom
- Public Transit
- Walking & Mobility
- All Urbanism
- Architecture
- Art & Culture
- Design & Development
- History & Heritage
- Policy & Planning
- Nature & Public Spaces
- Podcast
- Events
- Support
- About Viewpoint Vancouver
- City Elections 2022
- Climate Change
- COVID Place making
- The Livable Region
- Transportation
- Urbanism
- All The Livable Region
- Business & Economy
- Energy & Resources
- Governance & Politics
- Housing
- All Transportation
- Cycling
- Infrastructure
- Motordom
- Public Transit
- Walking & Mobility
- All Urbanism
- Architecture
- Art & Culture
- Design & Development
- History & Heritage
- Policy & Planning
- Nature & Public Spaces
For some reason my bike never seems to register at the counter outside Science World. That makes me suspect these things are under-counting – and makes me wonder by how much and if it’s a problem with all of them including the ones that the City bases its statistics on…
They definitely under count – you need to bike over the diamond loops close to the middle for best results. The hose counters are a more accurate but are prone to damage and vandalism.
I find the count works well unless 2 bikes cross at once, and there is only 1 count.
The one at Science World was broken for quite a while… But yes it can be a little flaky. Since it is an induction counter, the material your wheels are made from will impact its ability to count you. If you’ve got a road bike with carbon fiber wheels for instance it’s not going to see you go by at all. Big steel slow-moving cruiser bike? No problem.
The city says that they audit their counting devices (both bike and vehicle) periodically by stationing a person there with a ‘clicker’. They compare the number counted by the person to the number counted by the wire loop and then use that information to help correct their counts. They definitely are aware that the ‘raw’ data from the counters does not necessarily equate to reality.
Vancouver does a lot of audit counting of their induction loop counters, both with tubes and manual counts.
I have a carbon fibre bike with carbon fibre wheels, and the counter at Telus Science World registers my passing six or so times per week. I haven’t seen it miss me. I do recall when the system was down for a period of time though.
I volunteered with HUB at the Bike to Work Week station at that location. We were counting bikes manually, and tried using the counter for total cyclists passing, while manually counting those who stopped at the station. I found it to be very accurate during the four manual audit checks I did during the event. What I did find was that if there were multiple bikes it often paused and then registered the total increment at once. Passing cyclists often thought they weren’t being counted but the delay was more of an issue than missing bikes. Some did get missed if they were riding two abreast.
What was interesting to watch was how many cyclists wanted to look and see what number they were that day. It seems that the immediate feedback is very engaging, more so perhaps than monthly spreadsheet totals on a web page. I am glad to see the new counters, and hope they are functioning soon.
I’m aware that the system has been down from time to time, but my bike fails to register even though I see it register other bikes going by. There’s nothing exotic about my bike, and I do try to go through the thickest part of the diamonds. It is a puzzlement.
Hey Gordon,
I guess Vancouver is catching up to Canmore… too bad the numbers don’t show up, so far 235,000 or so since last August.
Shayla