I love a job where I get to create a port-a-john master plan. Since construction crews have packed up and taken their toilets with them, our inboxes have been filling up with inquiries about when they'll be replaced. We don't want to locate them willy-nilly along the trail, so we're going about this in a very thoughtful and strategic way. We also have rain shelters, benches, trail rules signage, bike repair stations, and bike racks in the procurement pipeline, to be installed by the spring where we hope they'll be most needed. Time will tell if we got it right. 

 

But we have a secret weapon. The automatic counters installed the length of the trail guide much of the master planning process. (We also have some of our trail ambassador volunteers providing anectdotal estimates of how far apart they should be.) From these, we know what sections of trail are busiest, what percentage of traffic is bikes vs. pedestrians, and can even tell direction. Combined with existing amenities, these reports fill in a lot of blanks for us.

 

The data becomes more powerful the longer the trail is on the ground. We'll be able to discern longer-term trends, like the effects of connectors on trail usage, or seasonal swings that will be valuable to interested entrepreneurs. We can marry the data to other events, like the opening of the Stone Brewery Bistro, or the new Varina Library, both located along the trail. We'll also do some trailside surveys and counts of our own to arrive at an accurate estimate of unique users, tourists vs. locals, and other important demographic data. If knowledge is power, soon we'll all be Hans and Franz.  

 

Finally, we're developing a widget so the real-time counts will be displayed on our home page, like our friends at  Bike Arlington. Together, it will be fun to watch the numbers grow.

 

Until then, know that we're looking out for you and your needs when it comes to comfort and safety on the Virginia Capital Trail.