Winter Pathwatch 2006-2007 Study
Use Profiles: Summary Report
Background
The City of Calgary Parks is the Business Unit responsible for managing
Calgary’s 635 kilometre pathway system; the most extensive urban pathway
network in North America.
Pathway surveys have been ongoing in Calgary, including the major Pathwatch
Survey of 2002. In the fall of 2006, Parks commissioned Recreation’s Business
& Market Research (BMR) group to conduct extensive observation research on
12 sites of the pathway system over the winter. The Use Profiles Report
provides information on volume of use, timing of use, gender of user, age group
of users, type of use, direction of use, and pathway condition.
The Use Profiles: Summary Report which follows provides an overall summary
of the 12 sites presented in Use Profiles.
Purpose and Objectives
There were four main purposes for the Winter Pathwatch 2006-2007 Study:
1. to gather winter data on the volume of use, timing of use, gender, age of
user, direction of use, and pathway conditions during use;
2. to compare data to previous count surveys;
3. to use different combinations of data to identify potential conflict areas;
4. to develop winter base line data for these 12 sites.
Methodology
The Winter Pathwatch 2006-2007 study was intended to be similar to previous
pathway surveys done in 2002 and 1994.
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Twelve sites were selected by Parks to be studied:
1. North Bow Pathway near Edworthy Park NW;
2. North Bow Pathway @ Crowchild Trail NW;
3. North Bow Pathway @ 9A Street NW;
4. North Bow Pathway @ Prince’s Island NW;
5. Nose Creek Pathway @ 16 Avenue NE;
6. Elbow River Pathway @ Talisman Centre SW;
7. 37 Street Pathway @ 93 Avenue SW;
8. South Bow Pathway @ 9A Street SW;
9. Elbow River Pathway @ Glenmore Landing;
10. South Bow Pathway @ Crowchild Trail SW;
11. Confederation Park Pathway near 10 Street NW; and
12. South Bow Pathway @ Jaipur Bridge SW.
A survey form was developed using a software package called Teleform. The
survey form was approved by Parks and tested by BMR staff in the field. For the
busier sites, an additional “tick box” form was developed which allowed large
numbers of adult walkers and runners to be recorded, and then transferred to the
main survey form at a more convenient time. These survey forms can be found
on pages 12 and 13 of this report respectively. Counting clickers were also
available to surveyors to record specific activities.
BMR already had a small pool of On-Call Opinion Surveyors who had been
trained and had experience in other observation studies. After a Winter
Pathwatch orientation, they were the first to be assigned observation shifts with
the first day of observation being 2006 November 25. Although a second
observation day was scheduled for November 26, this date had to be cancelled
as the temperature with wind-chill was below -31 degrees C (the cutoff point
received from Recreation’s Safety Group).
During November and December, BMR hired another 11 On-Call Opinion
Surveyors. Human Resources was also contacted to see if current city
employees on disability could be accommodated for the project. This option
increased the observer pool by five.
After a training session for new hires took place on December 8, pathway
observations began in earnest on December 9 and continued on to December
21. It was felt that dates after December 21 to the end of the year would not be
representative of normal pathway usage given the Christmas holidays.
In 2007, the observation schedule resumed January 3 and continued on to
February 26, with no observations being made on February 19 (Family Day).
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Observations were conducted at each site from 7:00 to 18:00 (11 hours per day).
Parks was hoping to have each site surveyed on two weekdays, one Saturday,
and one Sunday per month except for South Bow Pathway @ Jaipur Bridge
SW which had double the requirement.
At South Bow Pathway @ 9A Street SW, South Bow Pathway @ Jaipur
Bridge (Eau Claire) SW, North Bow Pathway @ Prince’s Island NW, North
Bow Pathway near Edworthy Park NW, Confederation Park near 10 Street
NW, Elbow River Pathway @ Talisman Centre SW, Elbow River Pathway @
Glenmore Landing SW, 37 Street Pathway @ 93 Avenue SW, and Nose
Creek @ 16 Avenue NE, observers could drive their personal vehicle to the site.
Therefore, each of these sites normally had two shifts; one from 7:00 to 13:00
(six hours) and the second from 13:00 to 18:00 (five hours). For these long
shifts, normally a permanent BMR staff member would relieve for breaks (and
bring supplies if required).
At North Bow Pathway @ 9A Street NW, North Bow Pathway @ Crowchild
Trail NW, and South Bow Pathway @ Crowchild Trail SW, the observers
could not drive their personal vehicles to the site, and given the winter conditions,
the shifts were shorter. At each of these sites, five shifts were required: from
7:00 to 8:59 (two hours), 9:00 to 10:59 (two hours), 11:00 to 13:59 (three hours),
14:00 to 15:59 (two hours), and 16:00 to 18:00 (two hours). These shift lengths
were approved by Recreation’s Safety Group.
The observers were instructed to record any person using the pathway who
passed through their observation point. Data for 13 variables was recorded on
the observation sheets. The variables were: Date, site, hour of day, day of
week, weather conditions at the hour of observation, pathway condition at the
hour of observation, activity, having a dog, number of dogs, exiting direction,
gender, age, and if they were part of a group (like a running group).
Once the data was collected, it was returned to the office and scanned into an
Excel spreadsheet using the Teleform software.
Any person passing through the observation sites was recorded, regardless of
whether or not they had been recorded before. Consequently, one person could
have been counted more than once by the same observer during the same shift.
One person could also have been counted several times in one shift as they
traveled along the pathway system and through different sites being observed on
the same day. This was recognized from the outset of the project and is the
reason why this report refers to pathway users instead of people or individuals.
The counts provide information on the volume of use at a particular site, not the
number of individuals at that site. This also allows better comparisons to
previous surveys.
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The number of dogs was also recorded. Dogs were assigned where possible to
a person determined by the observer to be the “owner”. At sites where dogs are
required to be on a leash, this is not a problem. At off-leash sites such as 37
Street Pathway @ 93 Avenue SW, more discretion was allowed. For example if
a man and a woman were walking two dogs off-leash, the observer could assign
both dogs to one person; or one dog to each. Since no cross-tabulations were
done between gender and dogs, this is not a problem.
Commencing in January, the observers were brought into the BMR office for
training on data entry using Teleform. The observers were responsible for
entering and checking their own data.
Analysis of the data was conducted by BMR’s Research Analysts. Analysis of the
observational data was done at two levels: individual sites and an overall
summary of the combined site information. All variables were analyzed
quantitatively. Analysis and comparison to the 2002 and 2004 reports were
primarily limited to the individual site profiles due to differences in the number of
sites.
In this analysis, three key measures are used to compare and analyze use of the
pathways in Calgary. The first is a frequency, or count, of total users (referred to
throughout the report as “count”) at a site. With varying numbers of hours of
observation at different sites, the count cannot be used when comparing sites.
The second measure of use in the calculation of average per hour use based on
the total number of users divided by the number of hours of observation. With
careful documentation of the hours, the average per hour measure can be used
with confidence as a comparative between sites and times of day or month. The
third measure is a calculation of the percentage of the relevant variable based on
the overall count. This measure can also be used to compare sites as long as
the total counts for each site are kept in mind as a reference point.
For the most part, analysis of activity has been limited to the three most frequent
activities in all tables in this summary, as well as in the site profiles, because the
activities of skateboarding, riding a scooter, using a wheelchair and others made
up less than one percent of the observed activity. However, the total for all
tables include these activities.
Because a random sample is not possible in a study of this nature, a
convenience sample was used (that is, any person using the pathway who
passed through the data collector’s observation point was recorded). Since
every possible pathway user was NOT given an equal chance to participate in
the study, the findings cannot be generalized to all pathway users. What this
means is, the findings reported apply only to those who were on the pathways at
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the times of observation. The large amount of data collected (129,594 pathway
users) allows for a high level of confidence in the information. Since the results
offer valuable insight into pathway use patterns, the Site Profiles and Summary
Report can provide direction for future planning and priority setting in the
maintenance, operations, and capital lifecycle of Calgary’s pathway system.
Project Limitations
The winter weather was a factor. Based on recommendations from Recreation’s
Safety Group, observations were postponed if the temperature including wind
chill dropped below -31 degrees Celsius. This limit not only protected BMR staff
from the cold, but there was concern that pathway use would also be much
lower, and hence not give an accurate picture of use seen under more “average”
conditions.
“Adults” were defined as people being 18 years and older. “Children” were
defined as anyone below age 18. It was up to the observer to make the
distinction using their best judgment. As this study was conducted in the winter,
people dressed up warmly sometimes made age and gender distinctions difficult
and were recorded as “Unknown”. Children in strollers and bicycle trailers were
also difficult to determine their gender.
Another project limitation was the available lighting. Given the shortness of the
days (especially just before Christmas) during the observation period,
observation on age and gender was difficult in the first observation hour (7:00 to
8:00) and even more so in the last observation hour (17:00 to 18:00). Some sites
like North Bow Pathway near Edworthy Park NW were worse than others.
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Summary of Findings
x
x
x
A total of 129,594 observations were recorded over the 1091.5 hours of
observation for an average of 118.7 pathway users per hour.
The average use per hour ranged from 294.3 pathway users at South
Bow Pathway @ Jaipur Bridge SW to 10.9 at Nose Creek @ 16
Avenue NE.
On weekdays, an average of 121.3 pathway users per observation hour
was recorded. On weekends, the average was 114.7.
An overall average of:
x 58.6% of pathway users were walkers
x 25.2% of pathway users were runners
x 14.3% of pathway users were cyclists
An overall average of:
x 4.6% of pathway users observed were with dogs. The total number of
dogs observed was 7,061.
Of the pathway users observed:
x 52.9% were male, 40.7% were female, and 6.4% were unknown.
x 94.6% were adults, 3.8% were children, and 1.6% were unknown.
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Comparisons to Previous Surveys
Table 1 below shows comparisons between this survey and the pathway surveys
of 2002, 1999 (the last Winter Pathwatch survey), and 1994.
Table 1 – Comparison to Previous Years
The following numbers come from the summary reports for each Pathwatch. The
sites of the 1999 Winter Pathwatch are completely different from the 2006-2007
Winter Pathwatch and so direct site comparisons are not possible.
Overall
Average per
Hour
Weekday
Average per
Hour
Weekend
average per
Hour
Walking %
Running %
Cycling %
Inline skating %
Users with dogs
Male user %
Female user %
Unknown
gender %
Adult %
Child %
Unknown Age
Winter
Pathwatch
2006-2007
119
Winter
Pathwatch
1999
29
Summer
Pathwatch
2002
182
Summer
Pathwatch
1994
118
121
Not
measured
182
118
115
Not
measured
184
111
58.6%
25.2%
14.3%
0.1%
4.6%
49.8%
9.6%
33.3%
6.2%
3.4%
29.3%
10.9%
53.2%
5.6%
2.0%
52.9%
40.7%
6.4%
53.0%
14.5%
30.7%
1.7%
Not
measured
58.7%
38.5%
2.8%
58%
40%
62%
36%
94.6%
3.8%
1.6%
88.3%
11.3%
0.4%
87.5%
11.6%
0.9%
Unknown
Unknown
It is interesting to note that the averages in the first three rows for the Winter
Pathwatch 2006-2007 are almost duplicates for the Summer Pathwatch of 1994.
Factors such as the increased growth in population, and an increasing desire for
healthy living would be part of the answer.
Winter Pathwatch Survey 2006-2007
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Summary of Sites
Volume of use
The site with the highest volume of use is at the South Bow Pathway @ Jaipur
Bridge SW (Eau Claire). During the 132 hours of observation time at that site,
38,842 observations were made for an average of 294.3 per observation hour.
The site with the highest volume of use in any one hour is South Bow Pathway
@ Jaipur Bridge SW which occurred on December 11 between 12:00 and 13:00
when 1,421 observations were recorded.
The site with the lowest volume of use is Nose Creek Pathway @ 16 Avenue
NE.
Time of Use
The following two graphs show the average hourly use at the 12 sites for both
weekdays and weekends.
Average Weekday Use by Hour
Average
300
268
250
200
150
100
188
170
152
126
66
54
91
79
71
77
50
0
7-8 8-9 9-10 10- 11- 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- 1711 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Time
On weekdays, there is a commuter pattern seen in the 7:00-8:00 and 17:00 to
18:00 periods. The highest peak though is in the 12:00-13:00 period. This
corresponds to a lot of recreational traffic, including runners and downtown office
workers simply out for a walk. This pattern was strongly seen at South Bow
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Pathway @ Jaipur Bridge SW, North Bow Pathway @ 9A Street NW and
South Bow Pathway @ 9A Street SW.
Between 7:00 and 9:00 and then again between 15:00 and 18:00, South Bow
Pathway @ 9A Street SW has the highest average volumes. For the rest of the
weekday hours, South Bow Pathway @ Jaipur Bridge SW has the highest
volumes.
Average Weekend Use by Hour
Average
200
173
141
150
142 142
103
83
100
50
131 130 130
62
23
0
7-8 8-9 9-10 10- 11- 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- 1711 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Time
On weekends, the highest usage hour is between 10:00 and 11:00. It is
interesting to note that except for this peak between 10:00 and 11:00, the amount
of hourly use is very similar from 9:00 to 16:00.
Between 8:00 and 9:00 on weekends, Elbow River Pathway @ Glenmore
Landing has the highest volume of pathway use. Between 10:00 and 11:00,
South Bow Pathway @ 9A Street SW has the highest volume. For the other
weekend hours, South Bow Pathway @ Jaipur Bridge SW has the highest
volumes.
Winter Pathwatch Survey 2006-2007
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Activity
Table 2 below shows the top two and bottom two sites by percentage of activity.
Activity
Highest % Sites
Lowest % Sites
37 Street @ 93 Avenue SW
Elbow @ Talisman Centre SW
Highest
%
85.9%
84.9%
North Bow @ Crowchild NW
South Bow @ Crowchild SW
Lowest
%
18.1%
19.6%
Walking
Running
North Bow @ Crowchild NW
South Bow @ Crowchild SW
48.6%
42.3%
37 Street @ 93 Avenue SW
Elbow @ Talisman Centre SW
10.0%
10.5%
Cycling
Nose Creek @ 16 Avenue NE
South Bow @ Crowchild SW
47.5%
36.6%
37 Street @ 93 Avenue SW
Elbow @ Talisman Centre SW
1.6%
3.9%
In-Line
Skating
North Bow @ Edworthy NW
0.4%
Elbow @ Talisman Centre SW
0.0%
North Bow @ Crowchild NW
0.3%
Elbow @ Glenmore Landing SW
Confederation Park @ 10 Street
NW
North Bow @ Princes Island NW
Nose Creek @ 16 Avenue NE
37 Street @ 93 Avenue SW
0.0%
0.0%
North Bow @ Princes Island NW
North Bow @ 9A Street NW
1.4%
1.4%
South Bow @ 9A Street SW
1.4%
38.9%
Dogs %
Male %
37 Street @ 93 Avenue SW
Confederation Park @ 10 Street
NW
67.4%
19.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Elbow @ Talisman Centre SW
62.3%
South Bow @ Crowchild SW
61.6%
Confederation Park @ 10 Street
NW
37 Street @ 93 Avenue SW
Female %
37 Street @ 93 Avenue SW
Elbow @ Glenmore Landing SW
57.1%
53.5%
Nose Creek @ 16 Avenue NE
South Bow @ Crowchild SW
26.0%
31.9%
Adult %
South Bow @ Crowchild SW
North Bow @ 9A Street NW
98.6%
97.7%
Elbow @ Talisman Centre SW
Nose Creek @ 16 Avenue NE
77.0%
83.7%
Child %
Elbow @ Talisman Centre SW
Confederation Park @ 10 Street
NW
19.2%
9.9%
South Bow @ Crowchild SW
North Bow @ Crowchild NW
1.1%
1.4%
40.4%
Note: Unknown age and gender have not been corrected for.
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