The Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation hosted its first Webinar Feb. 27, with OTREC researcher Krista Nordback providing an overview of bicycle and pedestrian count programs for the 250-plus registered participants.

The Webinar marks an expansion of IBPI’s professional development offerings, which now also include a sustainable transportation study-abroad program and a wider selection of workshops geared toward transportation professionals and university instructors. Webinar participants were eligible to receive continuing education credits, new this year for IBPI live Webinars and in-person workshops.

While the title of the Webinar, “We are Traffic: Creating Robust Bicycle and Pedestrian Count Programs,” asserts a place for walking and bicycling in traffic discussions, Nordback began with a question: If we really believe that bicycling and walking are modes of traffic, how is that going to change how we measure those modes?

Nordback outlined the Federal Highway Administration’s Traffic Monitoring Guide, published last year. She covered why counting and understanding bicycle and pedestrian volumes is important and how to apply lessons from motor vehicle counting to nonmotorized modes.

The practical focus of Nordback’s presentation provided guidance to transportation practitioners looking to set up or expand their own count programs. Of particular interest from Webinar participants was the balance between short-duration and permanent counts, and how that balance may evolve over time. Participants also inquired about choosing the count sites themselves, an area of ongoing research.

Discussions started at the Webinar are continuing at a Google Group:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/walk-bike-count

Everyone interested in the topic is welcome to join. Questions asked during the Webinar, and Nordback’s responses, are also available there.

Nordback’s slide deck, along with video of the entire Webinar, are archived at:
http://www.pdx.edu/ibpi/archive-0