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A visitor count tells you how many people passed a counter, not whether they were exercising, commuting, visiting a park, or using a path to reach school, work, shops, or transit. To understand what a bike path or park contributes, cities need to measure both use and purpose—and consider who can safely access it.
Why a single visitor count misses important benefits
Paths and parks can serve several roles at once: recreation, active transportation, physical activity, and social connection. A trail may be a place to walk or cycle for fun and also a practical link between neighborhoods and everyday destinations. The balance depends on the route’s location and design, the people it serves, and whether it makes new trips possible.
Active transportation networks include trails, sidewalks, bike lanes, and roads designed for walking, bicycling, or rolling, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2026 guide. When routes have gaps, active trips can become less appealing or safe. The guide describes a nationwide network of 40,000 miles of multiuse trails, while emphasizing that connectivity—not just mileage—matters.
For an individual project, the practical questions are: Who uses the route? When do they use it? What places does it connect? And is the trip mainly recreational or functional travel?
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How one path can serve recreation and transportation
Chicago’s 2.7-mile 606 trail illustrates the overlap. It connects six ground-level parks and is managed for recreation, but it also serves as a cross-town transportation connector. Trail managers sought use information to support safe, harmonious shared use, operations and maintenance, and documentation of development benefits. The example shows why a count is more useful when paired with information about where a route leads and how people use it; it does not mean every park path functions as a transportation route.
In the first half of 2016, two counters on the 606 recorded average daily traffic of 3,500 and 3,000, with peak daily traffic above 10,000. Researchers extrapolated from six months of use and historical average weather to estimate annual volumes of 1.46 million and 1.3 million at those sites. They estimated 3.7 million combined annual miles traveled. These are modeled figures for two locations on this specific trail and period, not a general benchmark for paths.
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What paths and parks may contribute—and what counts cannot prove
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes parks and recreation facilities as places for physical activity and socializing, and notes possible economic and environmental benefits. It also identifies concerns such as displacement, rising property taxes, and inequitable distribution of project resources. Benefits and costs can coexist, and the people who gain access to a new amenity may not be the same people who bear its costs.
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Construction by itself does not guarantee that activity levels will rise. Healthy People 2030, summarizing a Community Preventive Services Task Force review last reviewed in 2021, states: “Researchers found insufficient evidence to determine whether infrastructure improvements alone, without other interventions, are effective.” The review supports considering infrastructure alongside community engagement, awareness, structured activity programs, and access improvements.
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Project appraisal also needs to distinguish existing users from new users. Australian Transport Assessment and Planning guidance notes that a route linking homes, education, and employment precincts may benefit a broader range of travelers throughout the week. Widening an existing park path, by contrast, might improve safety without attracting new users. Potential benefit categories include health-system costs, crash risk, noise, air pollution, congestion, travel time, and vehicle operating costs. Some depend on a change in travel behavior, so analysts should avoid counting the same benefit twice.
How trail-use counts are collected and adjusted
Automated counters provide a way to track traffic, but their readings are not self-explanatory. In the 606 study, researchers used active infrared counters and followed Federal Highway Administration traffic-monitoring procedures. Calibration tests found that occlusion—when one user obscures another from the counter—varied with user type and traffic volume. Researchers applied a 1.239 adjustment factor to account for it.
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The study’s regression model included weekday or weekend, counter location, and temperature, and explained 80% of the variation in daily use. Annual figures were extrapolated from the first six months of 2016 using historical weather averages. Those choices illustrate why published counts should explain counter placement and type, calibration, user classification, time coverage, and any assumptions used to estimate totals beyond the measured period.
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A count is evidence of use, not on its own proof of better health, fewer emissions, or economic growth caused by a project. For a fuller picture, pair counts with surveys about trip purpose, origin-and-destination or network analysis, safety and accessibility reviews, and relevant local outcome measures. No single counting method is established as best for every project.
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How to compare paths or park projects fairly
When comparing projects, use consistent periods and explain how each estimate was produced. A useful comparison looks beyond total visitors:
- Connectivity: Which neighborhoods and destinations—such as schools, jobs, shops, or transit—does the route reach, and where are the gaps?
- Users and purpose: Do counts distinguish pedestrians, cyclists, and other users? Do surveys clarify recreational trips versus transportation?
- New versus existing use: Is the project expected to make new trips possible, or primarily improve the experience or safety of current users?
- Access and safety: Can people with different abilities reach and use the route safely, including at street crossings and connections to other transportation?
- Measurement quality: What seasons and times were covered? Were counters calibrated, and are estimates observed counts or extrapolations?
- Local context: What complementary programming or outreach is in place, and are there risks of displacement or unequal allocation of resources?
Whose use is visible—and who benefits?
A count can miss people who do not use a path because it is difficult to reach, feels unsafe, or does not meet their access needs. The CDC recommends safe, accessible infrastructure, transportation connections, street crossings, and community engagement. It also encourages coordination among parks, public health, planning, transportation, development, and housing stakeholders.
Community input and access reviews help explain what a counter cannot: who is absent, what barriers they face, and whether investment is distributed fairly. The CDC notes that people are more likely to walk or bike to parks or recreation facilities if they live nearby, making proximity and the routes into a park important parts of the picture.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesMassachusetts offers an example of how project-specific estimates can capture several kinds of value. A Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and MassTrails study of four paths, using data collected from July through October 2019, estimated local-business impacts of $378,000 to $9.2 million per path during that four-month period. Across the four paths, it estimated $2.8 million in combined healthcare savings in 2019, more than 90,000 active commute trips, more than 700,000 fewer motor-vehicle miles, and $2.2 million in social-cost savings from greenhouse gas and other emissions. These are estimates for those paths and study period, not outcomes that can be assumed for other projects.
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