and learned the following. They were counting during three time intervals: 0630-0930, 1100-1400, and 1600-1900. Neither counter had been instructed to count bicycles specifically although Worker One pointed out that cyclists were to be included in either pedestrians or automobiles based on whether they were riding on the sidewalk or road. Worker Two did not count cyclists at all unless they were walking their bicycle on the sidewalk, in which case the cyclist was to be counted as a pedestrian. Worker Two even commented to me that I was the fifth cyclist of the day to inquire about the cyclists being counted. I was informed that although the equipment they had been issued today, manufactured by JAMAR Technologies, was of an older style that did not allow bicycles to be specifically counted, such equipment is available. However, it was not in use and the workers were not instructed to count bicycles in any way.
Worker Two commented that military installations are required by law to count traffic once per year. I'm not familiar with this. Does anyone know what the law is?
I waited on the corner of Wisconsin Ave and Jones Bridge Road to take the below photo of the counters for about twenty minutes. In that time I counted nine bicycles including myself. Surely, the total number of cyclists in the neighborhood are not an insignificant number. A friend, who also spoke to them, reports that the traffic counter with whom the friend had spoken stated that tons of bikes had been seen but none counted.
The views expressed here are those of mine only, and are not to be construed as those of the Department of the Navy or Department of Defense.
4 comments:
Did someone ask you to post that disclaimer?
Thanks for talking to them. I was also going to stop my bike and ask if they were counting bikers, but the light changed and I wanted to get to work at NIH.
Sorry to hear that they indeed weren't counting bikers.
Alicia,
Why aren't there any posts on your blog? I'm sure you've got good things to say.
No one asked me to put the disclaimer on there. It's a requirement, the reference of which I don't know off the top of my head, for military bloggers. I've got it on the side, but I decided to avoid any misunderstandings by putting it on any blog post about the Navy or DOD.
Actually I forgot I was planning on starting a blog about my experiences with the military and USUHS for all my friends...ooops. I actually had another one with some friends but I think that may be linked to a different email.
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