Abstract Manager

The Irish Greenway is a type of off-road active travel infrastructure that span across rural environments and connect communities. In recent years, as a part of a wider initiative by the Irish government to promote active travel and sustainable modes, the need for a robust active travel data collection and monitoring program has been identified at a national level for the Greenway network by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). 

This presentation will provide a summary of the various intrusive and non-intrusive data collection methods for active travel projects around the world, the current state of practice and lessons learned from Ireland, as well as the relevant high-level recommendations for Canadian municipalities looking to apply ITS technologies for active travel data collection in a rural context. It will include an introduction to the importance of both quantitative and qualitative data in project decision making, case studies on the various data collection methods and technologies currently available on the market (such as inductive loops, infrared sensors, radar, lidar, thermal imaging, and smartphone apps), some common limitations and considerations for applying these technologies under different environments, as well as other broad considerations across the data lifecycle - from data collection, transmission, and processing, to analysis, storage, and management.

 The session will provide helpful guidance for rural municipalities that are looking to incorporate ITS technologies in their active travel infrastructure to help apply a data driven approach in identifying focus areas for future network expansions or improvements, assess the change in usage and travel behaviours over time, and further improve overall network safety and operations.