Bonneville Shoreline Trail Committee and

Bonneville Shoreline Trail Committee and

Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee

Parley's Crossing Use Survey, October 23-29, 1999

By Lynne and Rob MacLeod,

Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee and Bonneville Shoreline Trail Committee

Introduction

During the last week of October, 1999, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Committee and the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee jointly undertook a "use survey" of the newly opened Parley’s Crossing, which joins Foothill Boulevard with Wasatch Boulevard north of 33^rd South. The purpose of the survey was to obtain an estimate of the number of people from different user groups using the crossing over the course of a week. This information will be used to document the popularity of the Parley’s Crossing and identify possible improvements and expansions to the facility.

Methodology

Due to the preliminary nature of the survey and the limited availability of survey takers, we could not sample at all times or at a random sampling of times. Rather, we decided simply to record the number of trail users entering and leaving the south end of Parley’s Crossing at anticipated high use times during a one-week period, October 23 through October 29. Frequency counts were taken during daylight hours (i.e., 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) on the weekend, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday. The sampling timeframe is presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Sampling Timeframe

Time of Day	Day of the Week
Time of Day	SAT. (10/23)	SUN. (10/24)	MON. (10/25)	TUES. (10/26)	WED. (10/27)	THURS. (10/28)	FRI. (10/29)
8a.m. -- 10a.m.	x	x
10a.m. -- Noon	x	x
Noon — 2p.m.	x	x
2p.m. — 4p.m.	x	x					x
4p.m. — 6p.m.	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

We were interested in the number of crossings made by five particular user groups: in-line skaters, cyclists, runners, and pedestrians, with and without dogs. Trail planners have always assumed that the Parley’s Crossing would be most heavily used by cyclists but also wanted to gauge the level of mixed use in order to provide appropriate amenities and develop usage policies. To standardize the counting of trail users accompanied by a dog, survey takers included any person they observed on the trail with a dog in the "Pedestrian with Dog" category. In addition, any child who crossed the trail in a stroller, baby jogger, or bike trailer was recorded in the same category as that for the adult user with whom he or she traveled. For example, a runner pushing a baby jogger was counted as two crossings in the "runners" category.

Survey Results

Weekend Trail Use:

During the weekend of October 23 and 24, trail use increased throughout the day, with the heaviest use of the Crossing in the mid- to late afternoon. The results in Table 2 show that approximately 60% to 70% of the trail crossings each day occurred between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Given the unseasonably warm temperatures both days, this pattern of use is not surprising.

Table 2. Percentage of Total Crossings on the Weekend by Time of Day

Time of Day	Percentage of Total Crossings
Time of Day	Saturday (n=397 total crossings)	Sunday (n=588 total crossings)
8 a.m. — 10 a.m.	13.4%	6.0%
10 a.m. — Noon	6.0%	16.7%
Noon — 2 p.m.	11.8%	18.4%
2 p.m. — 4 p.m.	33.2%	26.4%
4 p.m. — 6 p.m.	35.5%	32.7%

Table 3 shows the percentage of total crossings on Saturday and Sunday that were counted for each user group. Cyclists and pedestrians without dogs were the two most frequently counted user groups, comprising about 45% and 35% of the total traffic, respectively, on both days.

Table 3. Percentage of Total Crossings on the Weekend by Each User Group

User Group	Percentage of Total Crossings
User Group	Saturday (n=397 total crossings)	Sunday (n=588 total crossings)
In-line skaters	0.0%	0.5%
Cyclists	45.3%	45.7%
Runners	8.8%	6.3%
Pedestrians, no dogs	35.5%	34.9%
Pedestrians, dogs	10.3%	12.6%

Weekday Trail Use:

Counting of the use of Parley’s Crossing during the weekdays was limited to the 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot due to the limited availability of survey takers. As Table 4 shows, despite the warm weather at the beginning of the week, Monday was a slow day, with only 50 crossings in the two-hour time period, compared to Tuesday and Wednesday, with 86 and 92 crossings, respectively. The drop in trail use on Thursday (only 16 crossings) was probably attributable to the change in weather---cooler temperatures and rain. However, trail use rose again on Friday as the weather improved, with approximately the same number of crossings as were counted on Monday.

Table 4. Percentage of Total Crossings from 4-6p.m.Weekdays

by Each User Group

User Group	Percentage of Total Crossings
User Group	Monday (n=50 total crossings)	Tuesday (n=86 total crossings)	Wednesday (n=92 total crossings)	Thursday (n=16 total crossings)	Friday (n=45 total crossings)
In-line skaters	0.0%	2.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Cyclists	32.0%	40.7%	48.9%	12.5%	15.6%
Runners	4.0%	12.8%	7.6%	6.3%	8.9%
Pedestrians, no dogs	54.0%	22.1%	43.5%	81.3%	75.6%
Pedestrians, dogs	10.0%	22.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%

Table 4 also shows the trail use for the different user groups during the 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot during the week. On the warm days (Monday through Wednesday), cyclists and pedestrians without dogs were the most frequent users of Parley’s Crossing. During the cooler weather on Thursday and Friday, the number of cyclists on the Crossing dropped off considerably, although pedestrians without dogs continued to use the trail.

Conclusions

We were delighted but somewhat surprised that there were almost 1,000 crossings of the trail on a single fall weekend. Parley’s Crossing clearly fulfills a need and has been quickly become a regular part of many Salt Lake residents’ lives. Conversations with trail users indicated that many were frequent, even daily, visitors to the trail.

Future Plans

Given the success of this endeavor, we are planning a more comprehensive survey of Parley’s Crossing users in the spring. We are interested in finding out how frequently and for what purpose people use the Crossing, what mode of transportation they use to get to the trailhead, how far they live from the trail, and if they are familiar with the two sponsoring organizations. We may also be able to say something about seasonal use of the trail. If you would like to be involved, please call the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Committee at (801) 816-0876 or send email to mbac@ci.slc.ut.us.

Thank You!

We would like to thank the volunteers who assisted the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Committee and the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee with this Parley’s Crossing Use Survey:

Marty, Ty, Stefanie, and Renee Backer
Stuart Vineyard, Carter Dennis
Dennis Guy-Sell, Malcolm Campbell, and Dave Moser
Steve Campbell, Steve Klass, and Tanta Lisa Clayton

And many thanks to those Parley’s Crossing users who stopped to tell us about their trail experiences. We hope you continue to enjoy and support the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, the Salt Lake City bike routes, and open spaces.