A bevy of volunteers took to Whittlesea’s bike paths and trails, counting foot and bike traffic across 10 sites in the municipality earlier this month.
This year’s annual Super Sunday Recreation Count was the fourth organised by Bicycle Network in 39 councils across Australia.
Bicycle Network’s general manager of government and external relations, Garry Brennan, said the count was an important tool for councils when planning and managing their resources and spending on infrastructure.
“By establishing a regular and consistent measure of trail usage, we can show how many people are using the trails and where they are going. This further strengthens the case for investment in better shared path facilities,” Mr Brennan said.
Glen Eckardt, vice-president of the Whittlesea Bicycle Users Group, agrees. The Mill Park resident takes part in the count to help gather data that supports the group’s push for bicycle infrastructure upgrades.
Across the 10 counting stations in Whittlesea, 682 bikes were counted last year.
The results from that count were released in January, and came with a list of surveyor observations for the council. They mentioned riders were confused by a lack of signage on the Metro Ring Road path/overpass in Thomastown.
This was addressed in the council’s budget for the future, said Whittlesea councillor Nicola Davis.
