With their trail counters, the Arlington County DOT now has an accurate count of the number of pedestrians and cyclists who use various trails and when they use them. Below is the aggregated data from a counter located at the Custis Trail's 3.5 mile marker, at the top of the hill, just west of Rosslyn.
There are three interesting things this chart tells me.
1. The Winter Effect - Winter does cause a sizable drop off in cycling. Around 70%, as I eyeball it. It's impossible to say if these are evenly dispersed among commuters and recreational cyclists or if the people left in the winter are dedicated commuters, but regardless, there is less biking in the winter. The period of reduced cycling seems to be the 4 months from about mid-November to mid-March. That happens to correspond pretty closely with Daylight Saving Time, so it may be that people just don't want to bike home in the dark.
2. The Summer Effect - There isn't one. Next time you hear someone say that it gets too hot in the summer to bike in DC, show them this.
3. Snowmaggedon - The big drop off in trail use in February is during Snowmaggedon and the resulting lack of snow clearing. Snow was done falling on 2/11/10 but it wasn't until the first week in March that things got back to normal. Some of the drop off would have occurred even if the trail had been cleared by the 12th because so many offices were closed, but clearly the lack of snow clearing on the trail made it almost unusable for about three weeks. During that time there were maybe 15,000-20,000 fewer trips on the trail than there might have been had it been cleared. Some of those trips probably moved elsewhere, but not all of them. It's worth asking how much those trips were worth and how much it would have cost to make them possible.
As Mark Blacknell points out, there isn't enough manpower now to clear them, but that's because of who is assigned to do it. Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services has 150 employees to clear roads. But trail clearing is assigned to the Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources which has a single crew who has to clear routes to schools, paths to Metro stations and trails - in that order. By the time the get to trails, mother nature has done the work for them
It appears that in the winter, they can count on about 5000 bike and ped trips per week - if they keep the trails maintained. If Arlington wants to promote active transportation, it is worth dedicating at least some of the road clearing crew to that purpose for both the purpose of making it usable and to signal the importance the county places on them. Cyclists and pedestrians make up more than 0% of commuters and deserve more than 0% of the resources.
Thinking it would be nice if trail users cleared a block of trail near their home whenever snow hits. It wouldn't take much time. I know I could do it easily (I also know I haven't, but then again, i enjoy riding in the snow).
Just a fantasy, I know, but I think it would be cool if this collective effort took place.
Posted by: Blue-eyed Devil | January 21, 2011 at 09:31 AM
I've actually pitched that idea before, blue eyed Devil. Maybe if we get a big snow, we can organize something.
Posted by: washcycle | January 21, 2011 at 09:34 AM
At my kids' school we have a "shovel brigade." Rather than waiting for a city effort that may or may not ever come, when it snows a bunch of parents head out with shovels. Many hands make light work. In last year's storms we cleared the entire playground so the kids could have outdoor recess -- shoveling beats the hell out of dealing with kids who've had no exercise.
Even easier than shoveling is salting, which will take care of a lot, it just takes a little time to work.
Posted by: contrarian | January 21, 2011 at 09:46 AM
One problem with snow removal on trails is the lingering effect of icing from snow melt. This is often a problem on the Mount Vernon Trail between Dyke Marsh and the stone bridge. I have seen people salting sections of the trail in this are this year but it doesn't seem to occur with consistency.
Posted by: John | January 21, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Another observation - and one that probably leads nowhere good - is that this location on this multi-use path is ovewhelmingly used by people on bikes. Only five weeks showed pedestrian users ahead of bikes, almost all due to poor trail maintenance. Typical usage counts at least twice as many bikes as pedestrians.
Posted by: DaveS | January 21, 2011 at 10:14 AM
I pledge to shovel! I always hit the bus stop nearest my house, but I promise to look at the bike lanes too.
Posted by: Lisa | January 21, 2011 at 02:38 PM
Minor nit for future reference: it's "Daylight Saving," not "Daylight Savings".
Keep up the good work. I read everything you post, every day! :^)
Posted by: antibozo | January 21, 2011 at 05:08 PM