#bicyclingcounts @mncee @northern_spark

Biking home from downtown last night on the Cedar Lake Trail, I rode over a wee rubber tube just under the I-394 overpass. It looked something like what you might see on a highway for counting cars and as it turns out the tube is just that, but calibrated to count the much lighter weight of a bicycle.

Arlene Birt, the designer behind the mobile counting machine, explained that the stats collected throughout the day are projected every evening at 9 p.m. during bike walk week. The display includes not only the number of bikes that passed by, but also their cumulative carbon off-set and financial savings in comparison to driving. The counting will continue alongside Locus’ Tread Print station and the Greenway Glow this Saturday as part of Northern Spark.

Bicycling Counts is sponsored by the Center for Energy and Environment.