City of Chicago Counting Bikes on Elston?

So I saw this yesterday at Elston and Carmen. It appears that it's for counting bikes because it only covers the bike lane and parking lane. I wonder why they would be counting bikes on Elston? Perhaps to add something or remove a bike lane?

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Permalink Reply by Joel on May 26, 2010 at 5:09pm

Yep, that is used to count vehicles. I wouldn't make any judgements on what they are doing exactly. It could be as simple as wanting to know how much use the lane gets.

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on May 26, 2010 at 6:53pm

I remember going around that last time I hauled it out to the North Branch. I wasn't sure what it was. Next time I'll run over it a few times on my way out and back. :)

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Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on May 27, 2010 at 3:33am

This is a CDOT Bike program effort. Their website is here: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bike.html

Bike traffic counts are very positive and helpful to CDOT and to organizations like us at Active Trans.

We use the info to help plan things like where Bike Commuter Stations should go and the data also can be a push to help secure funding by showing how much biking has grown.

It's a good thing for sure, so just go ahead and ride over the tubes. They won't hurt you or your bike.

Thanks,
Ethan, with Active Trans

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Permalink Reply by mindfrieze on May 28, 2010 at 1:32pm

This is what you rode over:

http://www.eco-compteur.com/Selective-Pneumatic-Tubes.html?wpid=15392

Starting last year, 24-hour counts are conducted annually around the city to determine trends in cycling ridership.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Fiasco on May 29, 2010 at 3:15am

Was is City of Chicago of perhaps someone else? Elston is pretty well used by bikes. Before the bike lane, Elston was almost wide enough for two lanes but not enough. There was a phantom right lane that daring car drivers used for passing on the right - between parked cars and you-know-who (the daring bicyclists).