Bicycle Network: Measure & Understand

 June 07. VicRoads have just compiled the first full 12 month yearly statistics and the rumours are true. There are more people riding. A lot more! Most paths are showing an average 20% increase from March 06 to March 07, with the Footscray Rd/Docklands path showing a 40% increase! This pattern is reflected in our recent Super Tuesday counts which showed the increase was stronger on separated routes. We believe there is a strong case for the development of an onroad version to capture rider numbers on our busier commuter routes.

Many councils have told us they would like to get one on their path. Contact Vicroads data coordinator here for more information.

Oct 06. The Metropolitan Trail induction loops have now been operating for 11 months and the numbers are telling some consistent scenarios. The figures show that:

• Weekday and weekend numbers follow clearly identifiable patterns across the network
• 61% of path users are commuters
• The daily peaks and troughs in usage are consistent across the inner metropolitan area. The commuter/recreational ratio does adjust the further out the locations are.

There is also another very interesting aspect that has been revealed by comparing the path usage against the weather patterns. This analysis shows:

• On wet or bad weather days recreational use of the path network
  will drop by 70%
• On these same occasions only 5% of commuters will not ride!

These results are further proof that riding a bike is a viable form of transport and that bad weather does not stop people from choosing to commute by bike.

For data from these sites please see: vicroads path statistics

For the location of the loop counters see: Map of Loop Counters [PDF, 103 kb]

No loops in your area?

These counters are relatively inexpensive especially when you consider they work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year. You can speak to VicRoads Bicycle Program, about getting one (or more!) of these in your area to do all the hard work for you.