New Haven Independent

Out For The Count

by Paul Bass | November 19, 2009 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Thirty-five people walked by Gil Hawkins in 15 minutes. He counted.

He was on a mission.

Hawkins (pictured) was among scores of volunteers who fanned through downtown mid-day Wednesday to track the number of cyclists and pedestrians traveling through five different intersections, and to count the number of cars at various lots and other parking areas.

The watchers took part in an annual city government “Point in Time” count. The ritual helps the transportation office department assess supply and demand at parking facilities and gather data to “design sustainable transportation programs and plan for new pedestrian signals,” according to an official statement.

Hawkins, a longtime planner in the City Plan Department, claimed a perch on the northwest corner of Elm and Orange Streets. He tracked people walking north.

Directly across the street, Illisa Kelman sat on storefront steps to note the number of pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair-drivers heading east, also in quarter-hour intervals. She counted 15 from 11:30 to 11:45. Foot traffic picked up the next quarter hour in the midday sun.

Kelman, a grant writer for the parks department, was in good spirits as she kept count.

“I love to tan,” she said.

In all 40 people, largely volunteers, participated in the count Wednesday, according to Mike Piscitelli, the city’s traffic chief.

“We’re still crunching the numbers now. We’ll know more about it in a week or two when we actually get the numbers back,” Piscitelli said late Thursday.

“Anecdotally,” Piscitelli said, the counters have been discovering a growing number of pedestrians and cyclists on downtown streets each year. Street life is apparently booming.

The count will help the city make decisions about how to accommodate walkers and bikers. For instance, nine new traffic signals are going up around the new downtown campus of Gateway Community College. At some of those intersections the city wants to install “bicycle boxes” — basically extra “breathing room” for cyclists to make left turns. The count will help the city figure out where to put them.

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Posted by: abg | November 19, 2009 4:36 PM

doing this only in mid-November will result in a substantial under-count of bicyclists

Posted by: jawbone | November 19, 2009 5:01 PM

35 people in 15 minutes is not exactly what I would call 'booming'. I suggest that the city abandon the count and just do it because making greater space for pedestrians and cyclists is the right thing to do.
The numbers are not looking very convincing...

Posted by: Greg | November 19, 2009 9:30 PM

The time of day that they did the count is interesting to me - is it at the same time on the same/a similar date as in years past? Because I'm sure that the day of the week and time of day will affect the count.

Why not during rush hour?

Posted by: masoin | November 20, 2009 8:07 AM

how many cyclists were counted riding on the sidewalk? How many more were counted riding against traffic or running red lights? And why aren't these bikers ever ticketed by NH police?

Posted by: Morris Cove Mom | November 20, 2009 10:31 AM

Bikers should follow the road rules and ride on the street, close to the sidewalk. But, in light the man left on the street after his bike was clipped by a car in a hit-and-run, bikers take to the sidewalk to protect themselves from cars and cabbies who are out of control, and too busy chatting on cell phones to pay attention.

Posted by: Greg | November 20, 2009 2:18 PM

Masoin, I wonder how many people were doing anything illegal - from running a red light to jaywalking. Why pick on cyclists?

Posted by: Ray Willis | November 20, 2009 3:28 PM

Masoin, I guess you didn't get the memo- NH cyclists have no rights and if you're riding properly and hit head on by a ford escort you're f*cked. My bike was destroyed and the lady with no insurance who hit me got a ticket. The owner of the car that hit me didn't show up to court 3 times and its totally cool! Bikes don't kill people, they annoy people, like you. Cars kill people and its an acceptable practice EVERY DAY ALL YEAR LONG in NH for cars to disregard basic rules of the road. I was very confused coming down York St this afternoon and seeing the walk signal to cross broadway as well as tons of cars blowing the red light. I'm not talking the usual one or two, I'm talking like a half a dozen. Then, further on my ride on Orange at Autobahn a woman on her cell turns left as I'm properly approaching causing me to stop short or ride straight into her turning car. So get off the whole bike enforcement thing, its not the traffic problem OR the enforcement problem to look at first, and its no wonder cyclists ride as they like- THEY AREN'T SAFE.

Posted by: Norton Street | November 20, 2009 4:33 PM

If this study is going to determine the quality of the new and improvements to the existing bicycle infrastructure, then parking lots, highways, and roads should be designed around the numbers that use them at mid day. Instead of designing parking garages, roads and highways to hold the peak numbers at holidays and commute times, they should rely on a mid-November midday study for the numbers.

Design for what we want, not what we currently need. Slowly decrease automobile infrastructure while increasing all other forms and we will get safer streets that are in constant, calm motion that allow for various activities besides merely circulating cars.

Posted by: DavidK | November 20, 2009 4:56 PM

Cars and bikes don't mix very well. Sometimes I take the sidewalk across SCSU campus. When it's crowded I slow down to walking speed. I have a friendly bell to keep from scaring pedestrians. When I come up to a student on a cell phone I get off and walk. It's not bikes on a sidewalk that is dangerous. It is speeding bikes on the sidewalk that is dangerous. Same thing as cars on the road.

Posted by: Sara K | November 21, 2009 5:38 PM

Bike boxes?! I never thought I'd see the day New Haven would have bike boxes. :D That will be freaking rad.

35 bikes counted in 15 minutes.. that's 2-3 per minute, it's mid-November, and it was the middle of the day. It sounds pretty significant to me.

Posted by: Ray Willis | November 21, 2009 8:41 PM

One day I'm going to buy Norton Street a drink.

Posted by: Greg | November 21, 2009 8:47 PM

Norton Street, I can get behind planning for the future, but I don't quite follow your argument. By counting at midday, and building around those numbers, we still won't meet the needs of the people working and living in this city.

An additional count - at rush hour - seems like a good idea to me. If we're working towards something, isn't it a good idea to get a sense of where we are now?

Posted by: Norton Street | November 22, 2009 12:38 PM

Greg,
My first paragraph was to point out the ridiculousness of doing the count at midday in November. It wasn't a serious suggestion.

Out For The Count

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