Bicycle Network: Bike Futures Services

The Super Sunday project is a count of recreational bike riders and other users on Melbourne's trails and paths. 2010 is the first year for Super Sunday and this year's count will form the basis for an annual project

Super Sunday aims to provide reliable annual figures of recreational bike riders and other users of off-road paths and trails and their movements.

The project aims to answer a few questions:

* How many people are using our trails and paths, by bike riding walking or other?
* Which trails and paths are riders?
* When they are used, and with whom

Super Sunday is held on a Sunday in November, because Sundays are the most popular day of the week for low-intensity bike recreation, and November is the most likely time for people to be out riding on regular weekends.

Super Sunday uses volunteer Counters who monitor selected sites between 9am and 1pm and count rider movements through their site.

Our volunteer Counters record their observations on standardised counting templates. This data is submitted to the Bike Futures and then compiled into reports for participating councils, using Google Maps and Google Earth maps.

A flow map showing rider flows is produced on Google Earth. Rider movements as well as total rider numbers through each intersection are presented. The width of the flow line is directly proportional to the number of riders. Actual numbers of riders are overlaid on the flow map.

Benefits for Local Government

Super Sunday Count data is accurate, relevant, up-to-date and – for those councils who participate in Super Sunday for consecutive years – cumulative, making the Super Sunday data an important tool for councils, who are responsible for providing bike riding facilities for their constituents.

Click here for more information for Local Government.

Benefits for Riders and Supporter Organisations

By establishing a regular and consistent measure of bike riding and trail usage, we can show how many people are riding and using the trails and where they are going. This strengthens the case for further investment in better bicycle facilities.

Help get better bicycle facilities by volunteering to be a Super Sunday Counter. Your contribution can also turn into support for your bike group, club or school. During registration, every Super Sunday Counter has an opportunity to nominate a Bicycle User Group, community group or school to receive $120 for the four hour period.

The Super Sunday Count is a simple and easy way to fundraise for your organisation. We invite Bicycle User Groups, bicycle clubs and community groups to register as supporting organisations and encourage their members to register as Super Sunday Counters.

Click here for more information for Riders and Supporter Organisations.