Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on April 12, 2013 at 5:02pm

I've volunteered for the bike count before and A) it is fun (people- and bike-watching *plus* being outside, come on!) and B) I am glad they are saving the money by using volunteers to do the actual data gathering. It's quite a large-scale endeavor, covering all roads into (or out of) downtown and counting simultaneously in 2-hour stints. If they had to hire 100 folks to do that each season for a couple hours, it would surely cut into the pot for infrastructure, imo. 

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on April 13, 2013 at 8:10am

I'm recruiting volunteers to ride intersections. bring change of clothes, hats, and bike swapping encouraged.

Let's get some REAL protected lanes and money to keep them plowed in the winter and clean the rest of the year. 18th street was cleaned but the bike lane looked horrible near the train tracks,full of garbage and who knows what else.

peter moorman said:

How accurate are these counts anyway?

Suppose somebody is riding around the block all day.

Do they keep counting that cyclist over and over?

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on April 14, 2013 at 6:00am

Well said.

Sarah D. 1-3.3 said:

I've volunteered for the bike count before and A) it is fun (people- and bike-watching *plus* being outside, come on!) and B) I am glad they are saving the money by using volunteers to do the actual data gathering. It's quite a large-scale endeavor, covering all roads into (or out of) downtown and counting simultaneously in 2-hour stints. If they had to hire 100 folks to do that each season for a couple hours, it would surely cut into the pot for infrastructure, imo. 

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on April 14, 2013 at 12:53pm

+1 to what Sarah D said. The issue is that they need far more people to count at locations than they have paid personnel. It's fun and an easy way to partially fulfill your sense of bicycle-related civic duty. I'll be out there again and am hoping it warms up by then to maximize the volumes of people on bikes. 

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 16, 2013 at 7:20am

I've also volunteered a few times.  Sometimes you see people you know.  Sometimes you just get to observe and help CDOT gather info.  It's time well spent.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 16, 2013 at 7:23am

Donating our time so that others can make money?  I guess you don't get it. 

I agree with the other commenters about volunteer time for a task that doesn't require specialized skills being helpful to T.Y. Lin, the city and ultimately to US, because the planners have more information on which to base decisions about bike facilities.  This helps our tax dollars (and grant money for projects) go further, so that we get more bike infrastructure.

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

...Our time is the most valuable thing we have.  I find the fact that we are asked to donate our time so that others can make money hugely interesting. Roll in the fact that on top of donating our time, that the consultants are then paid with tax-payer dollars and it gets even more interesting. 

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on April 16, 2013 at 8:45am

What I clearly get is that T.Y. Lin is making money from this contract. The volunteers are lowering their labor costs so they can extract more profit from the project. I'm not arguing with the ends but I find the   means questionable. 

Anne Alt said:

Donating our time so that others can make money?  I guess you don't get it. 

I agree with the other commenters about volunteer time for a task that doesn't require specialized skills being helpful to T.Y. Lin, the city and ultimately to US, because the planners have more information on which to base decisions about bike facilities.  This helps our tax dollars (and grant money for projects) go further, so that we get more bike infrastructure.

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

...Our time is the most valuable thing we have.  I find the fact that we are asked to donate our time so that others can make money hugely interesting. Roll in the fact that on top of donating our time, that the consultants are then paid with tax-payer dollars and it gets even more interesting. 

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on April 16, 2013 at 9:18am

Hi Tony,

Do you have access to the contract language to back up your statements? Does the contract state that Ty Lin will staff the counts with paid resources?

Again, volunteer because you believe that it will help the bicycling community. Or don't volunteer.

But presenting your opinions while pretending them to be facts makes this a silly argument.

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

What I clearly get is that T.Y. Lin is making money from this contract. The volunteers are lowering their labor costs so they can extract more profit from the project. I'm not arguing with the ends but I find the   means questionable. 

Anne Alt said:

Donating our time so that others can make money?  I guess you don't get it. 

I agree with the other commenters about volunteer time for a task that doesn't require specialized skills being helpful to T.Y. Lin, the city and ultimately to US, because the planners have more information on which to base decisions about bike facilities.  This helps our tax dollars (and grant money for projects) go further, so that we get more bike infrastructure.

Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

...Our time is the most valuable thing we have.  I find the fact that we are asked to donate our time so that others can make money hugely interesting. Roll in the fact that on top of donating our time, that the consultants are then paid with tax-payer dollars and it gets even more interesting. 

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