The City of Columbia is seeking volunteers to help conduct our routine Bicyclist & Pedestrian Counts throughout Columbia.  By counting pedestrians and bicyclists, volunteers help to ensure that all of the City’s residents count: transit riders, pedestrians, and bicyclists are often not accounted for in traffic studies – the same traffic studies used to make important decisions about our City’s landscape.  In counting, volunteers are also taking part in a national effort: The National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project.

The City targets key intersections and crossings for pedestrian and bicyclist counts; these are locations which are heavily used, and at many of these locations pedestrians and/or bicyclists have been injured or killed.  By collecting data routinely, on weekdays and weekends, we are able to provide valuable and robust feedback to the many agencies that plan for our roadways.  The survey will help us better understand who uses the City’s roadways – streets and sidewalks included – and how they use them. A greater understanding of people’s behavior, as well as new data, will help to influence people-oriented planning and policy that inspires walkable, bikeable, and livable transportation design.

Volunteer to count as many times as you please!  Eight time slots are available, and each of the locations must be counted once on a weekday and once on a Saturday.  Surveyors can select from a list of count locations, and will count pedestrians and cyclists at one location for two hours.

Please note, we ask that all volunteers to take measures to protect themselves and others from the COVID-19 virus by wearing a mask and staying socially distant when conducting the counts. As a solitary and outdoor (or in-vehicle) activity, surveyors may wish to familiarize themselves with the site in advance in order to identify appropriate precautions.

WHAT:        City of Columbia Bicyclist & Pedestrian Counts

WHEN:        Volunteer to count as many times as you please!  Eight time slots are available, and each location must be counted once on a weekday and once on a Saturday:

Tuesday, September 7, 7:30-9:30AM

Wednesday, September 8, 7:30-9:30AM

Thursday, September 9, 7:30-9:30AM

Saturday, September 11, 10:00AM-12:00PM (noon)

Tuesday, September 14, 7:30-9:30AM

Wednesday, September 15, 7:30-9:30AM

Thursday, September 16, 7:30-9:30AM

Saturday, September 18, 10:00AM-12:00PM (noon) 

WHERE:      Sign up at https://bit.ly/2021FallCounts; counts occur at locations throughout Columbia

WHO:          Open to the public

To sign up, visit https://bit.ly/2021FallCounts. If you have questions regarding the routine Bicyclist & Pedestrian Count effort, contact Planning and Development Services Department at 803-545-3181.  For information on the City’s Planning efforts, including the Walk Bike Columbia Pedestrian & Bicycle Master Plan, and the Walkable 29203 Pedestrian Master Plan, visit https://columbiasc.gov/planning-preservation/city-plans.