Bicycle Counters

The popularity of cycling has grown exponentially across the UK and Ireland, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to quantify this as more money is invested in bike routes and paths has driven the development of bicycle counters over the last ten years.  

Bicycle Counters can influence many public decisions

As with people counters, we have two main approaches to bicycle counters in outdoor locations.

Magnetometer bicycle counters

Magnetometers, which are basically an electric sensor under the ground, are accurate, and work best within pinch points. It is possible to overcome width issues by fitting several magnetometers across a bike path but costs build and accuracy drops as the width increases. There is potentially a higher cost in the installation of these as they are fitted below ground, but longterm, if the ground is stable, (eg tarmac or equivalent) it will last for up to 10 years.

They can be combined with a pair of PIR sensors to identify the direction of travel of the bikes.

Radiobeam bicycle counters

We also use RadioBeam technology to identify bicycles, and this is very effective on rougher terrain where a magnetometer is likely to be disturbed in the ground. The beam can be set across a path, bridge or gateway and accurately identify numbers and also direction if necessary.

Communications

All counters will be linked to a communications system which will then send the information to the Data Centre. The information can then be displayed to the client via the web portal.

Compatability

Bike counters can be combined with both people and car counters across paths up to six metres wide, meaning that you can use bicycle counters in conjunction with multiple other counting systems to get an accurate impression of how your public space is being used.

If you’d like to find out more information about how bicycle counters could improve your public spaces, please email us or call us on 01249 822063 for further information.