If you are out and about on the active transportation network, you might have noticed some new counters on trails in Methuen, Amesbury, Salisbury and Newburyport. These trail counters are distinct from other traffic collection tools we use since they record unique data as people pass by – from direction and speed to weight and number of axles.  

Pedestrians are detected by the included infrared sensor, being tallied by the direction they are heading alone. Non-pedestrians, like bikes and scooters, are counted instead by the sensors installed into the pathway itself. As you move over these sensors, it sends a signal to the counter, which then uses the time you take to cross it combined with other information to derive the speed and direction of travel. 

Each count is completely anonymous, being boiled down to simple types of travelers and data around the vehicle itself if you aren’t traveling by foot. Nothing can be used to identify any individual person! 

Click here to interact with the Valley Talley Dashboard: https://app.mvpc.org/valley-tally

Nightly, the counters upload their data to an online system for our transportation team to access and analyze. This data is then downloaded by a program on our servers that checks early in the morning for new updates on the trails. We save the data and perform some basic math before rehosting it publicly to power our dashboard. 

The dashboard can use this information to then display a variety of statistics to satiate any curiosity you might have about the trails around our region. Did you know, for instance, that our counters have been tripped nearly 1,300,000 times since their installation in October? Or that about 10% of trail users are cyclists, but this can be up to as much as 25% on certain trails? We’re excited to continue keeping track of the patterns of usage as the summer months are on the horizon and more people are out and about on our beautiful trails. 

Our transportation team uses the data from these counters to inform multimodal planning, advance connectivity for active transportation routes, and support grant writing. Understanding the times of day that trails get the most use, the direction of travel and transportation type also helps us understand the type of users exist on our path and how to best serve members of the public for a diversity of transportation needs. 

If you haven’t seen our counters yet, use them as an excuse to get out and walk a wonderful trail and enjoy the fresh air!