July 24, 2020
Regional trails are realizing a boom in pedestrian activity.
A recent cycling boom nationwide has stirred much media attention. DVRPC’s previous regional analysis over the past few months has confirmed this trend. But a comparison of trail count data from March-June 2019 and 2020 shows a similar boom in pedestrian trail activity.
From March through June 2020, pedestrians have considerably increased their trail usage compared to 2019. The graph below highlights both pedestrian and bicycle increases this year. Pedestrian use is a big part of the increase in trail use this year. The Delaware River Trail at Port Richmond saw 7,000 new pedestrians in 2020, while the Wissahickon trail saw 24,000 additional pedestrians. The Chester Valley Trail gained just over 34,000 pedestrian trail users from 2019, nearly doubling pedestrian trail use. Schuylkill Banks saw an additional 50,000 pedestrian trail users.
All five automated trail counters measured an increase in pedestrian traffic analogous with the regional increase in cycling. In 2020, pedestrian and bicyclist counts surpassed the previous year’s counts on all five trails identified in the above table. The Chester Valley Trail and the Delaware River Trail at Port Richmond, saw a shift in the most common trail users with pedestrians becoming more common in 2020 than cyclists.
While we’re seeing an increase in trail use within the region, we’re also seeing a more pronounced period of use throughout the day, concentrating in the late afternoon. The graphs below offer a snapshot of hourly weekday usage averaged across March-June, 2019 and 2020 on the Port Richmond trail. In 2020, there is a peak in users between 4 and 7 PM, with softer pedestrian “spikes” at 6 AM and 12 PM than in 2019. Overall, compared to 2019, usage has increased the most dramatically in the late afternoon to evening. This information is consistent with more people working from home and using trails after the work day, for recreation, than for more traditional bicycle commute times.
Previous analysis has shown a cycling boom, but this increase has also been mirrored by a substantial pedestrian increase on regional trails. Explore DVRPC's Permanent Bicycle and Pedestrian Count web page for more details!