A Plan for Security and Infrastructure in Columbia

If you already know me, then you already know I’ve a ardour for saving lives on our roadways and constructing robust, resilient infrastructure that may serve the wants of all residents, which is why my curiosity was piqued once I heard about Bicyclist & Pedestrian Counts, which is a component of a bigger program, proper right here in my hometown of Columbia, S.C.

To begin, let me share with you a bit of little bit of background about this program. The town of Columbia had an goal to check and plan for the motion of bicyclists and pedestrians as a part of the Stroll Bike Columbia Pedestrian and Bicycle Grasp Plan planning course of. Beginning in 2014, a complete examine of present metropolis packages and multimodal infrastructure, visitors security information, and demographic information was carried out to develop the suggestions set forth within the plan.

To collect this information, the Planning Division routinely conducts pedestrian and bicyclist counts all through Columbia, with the assistance of employees and volunteers. This in the end helps drive decisionmaking for the DOT (division of transportation) and town. The data helps town of Columbia to grow to be conscious of security issues that exist already and infrastructure modifications that should be made. With the information, town is moreover in a position to do studies yearly and use these studies when having conversations with the DOT.

Whereas vehicular visitors counts are typically carried out at routine intervals by transportation companies (each native and state), these standardized counts don’t present information associated to the habits and modal selections of essentially the most susceptible customers—pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and individuals with disabilities. As roadway design is usually data-driven, the shortage of any such information can result in the design of insufficient or contextually inappropriate infrastructure.

Leigh DeForth, complete planner, Metropolis of Columbia, S.C., says “Should you had been simply trying on the vehicular information, you would possibly say ‘effectively we have to change the sunshine timing,’ however if you’re there and viewing the pedestrians and see that want, then you’ve a extra full image.”

It’s greater than seeing, it’s believing. It’s about understanding the tempo at which even essentially the most susceptible are crossing the intersection and even contemplating different kinds of info that may result in a distraction at a given intersection.

The town has focused areas that it is aware of are both security issues, are about to vary, or have excessive volumes. The counts occur in 34 completely different places.

“We rely on weekdays, Tuesday by Thursday morning, from 7:30-9:30 am, after which we rely on Saturdays from 10-12,” says DeForth. “The explanation we do that two-hour window is we are able to use these two-hour home windows to make approximations for the each day use. And we additionally know on Saturdays, or weekends on the whole, persons are going to be extra recreation-driven so 10-12 makes extra sense whereas once we rely from 7:30-9:30 we’re actually trying on the commuter mode so people who’re strolling or biking to work or using transit to work that we’re accounting for these.”

The counts usually occur within the spring and the autumn. The counts are at present going down this spring—having began this previous Saturday, March 25, and they’ll proceed by April 8. If you need to volunteer to rely, go to the web site.

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