Leading up to Bay State Bike Month this May, we're sharing various activities you can host for your community! Today, we're going to highlight a simple advocacy tool, bike counts!

Bike lanes and safe cycling infrastructure rely on data to support their expansion and improvement. One of the best ways to advocate for better biking conditions is to collect real-world data through a bike count—a simple but powerful way to track how many cyclists and pedestrians pass through a given location. Hosting a bike count during Bike Month can help provide valuable insights into cycling trends in your community and bolster the case for better bike infrastructure.

Benefits

• Data Drives Advocacy – Municipal planners and decision-makers rely on data to justify investments in bike lanes and multi-use paths. By tracking bike and pedestrian traffic, you’re providing essential evidence for improving local infrastructure.
• Know Your Riders – A well-timed bike count can help identify who’s using local bike routes, from daily commuters to weekend recreational riders, offering insight into cycling trends in your area.

Key Tips

• Choose the Right Location – Pick a place with steady bike traffic, such as a popular commuting corridor, near schools, or along a busy trail. The more representative the location, the more meaningful your data will be.
• Pick the Best Time – Schedule your count to capture key riders—weekday mornings for commuters, afternoons for students, or weekends for recreational cyclists. Best practices suggest counts should last two hours.

Planning Resources

• Bike Count How To Guide
• Bike Count One-Pager

Extra Credit 

While counting riders, why not go the extra mile? Have volunteers track the types of bikes they see—are they e-bikes, cargo bikes, or traditional road bikes? This data can provide more insight into how people ride in your community. 

You can also use the opportunity to share information about other Bike Month events—when cyclists stop to chat (and they will!), have flyers or QR codes ready to connect them with more ways to get involved.