Our community data collection efforts aim to meaningfully engage community members in making positive change. When we come together to experience and understand our community we can build our awareness of transportation priorities from different lived experiences and identities.
Check out some of the ways you can help below. Have more ideas? Please sign up on the Get Involved page!
Submit Bike Lane Obstructions
We’re using Bike Lane Uprising to report obstructions in bike lanes and help us identify problem areas.
Walk and Bike Audits
- Walk audits help us evaluate sidewalks, streets, and crossings for walkability and safety. Bike audits help us evaluate bike infrastructure (or lack thereof) and biking conditions for safety.
- The data collected will inform proposals for Metro Government Complete Streets funding and other grants, leading to neighborhood street, sidewalk, and bike infrastructure improvements.
- Bonus: it’s a fun way to get to know your neighbors and build our awareness of what walkability or bikeability means from different perspectives.
Toolkit
We use select pages from the AARP Walk Audit Toolkit, with customized questions for our neighborhood. You can preview the walk audit toolkit here: Walk Audit Toolkit
Process
- Lead Auditor: Each audit is led by a Lead Auditor who will bring the printed audit toolkit, explain the process, and assign sections to participants.
- Audit Walk: We’ll walk 2-4 blocks on the designated primary street, with participants focusing on specific aspects like sidewalk conditions or street usage.
- Reflection: At the cross street end location, we’ll pause to reflect and complete any remaining questions.
- Data Entry: The Lead Auditor will compile the data into our Audit Analysis spreadsheet within a few days.
Bike Counts
- A bike count tells us the number of riders in a given location and can be collected via manual (humans counting) or automated (typically expensive machine counters) methods.
- Many cities, such as Philadelphia and Portland, have long-running volunteer-run bike count programs that help cities understand how many people are riding, rider behaviors (e.g., riding on the sidewalk), and provide data for advocating for infrastructure and connectivity.
- In Old Louisville, that could look like ensuring the 3rd Street 2-way street conversion establishes a barrier-protected bike lane.
Use the Bike Count worksheet to tally the number of cyclists.
Process
- The Count Lead will bring the Bike Count worksheet.
- Consider bringing the following: a clipboard or book to write on, a chair, water, and an umbrella (for shade). We do not count if it’s raining.
- Plan to complete the count for at least 45 minutes and up to 1.5 hours.
Results from our pilot bike count at 3rd & Oak. 
Even when there was a bike lane, people opted to ride on the sidewalk. 
None of the cyclists were wearing helmets, which *could* mean they were traveling for transportation and not recreation. 
Only 2 cyclists were *perceived* to be women. While perceived gender data is imperfect, we collect is because data suggests women are less likely to bike on high-street networks. 
Wheelchair users often opt to ride on the street on Oak Street.
Heavy Truck Count Camera
We are developing an automated heavy truck count camera to count the number of heavy trucks traveling through the neighborhood each day. This system uses the Frigate open source network video recorder with real-time AI object detection. We need help refining the model, building an online portal (check out the example below), and analyzing the data. Check out the Heavy Truck Count Study page for more details.