Measuring Trail Usage

AWA believes that whenever possible, unambiguous data about a problem helps those working to solve it.

That is why we have been exploring ways, with the help of Rochester Institute of Technology students, to get data about trailhead usage into the hands of resource managers in a low-cost, timely manner.

Testing an Internet-connected trail counter

We’ve probably all seen trail counters before. Little devices that sit to the side of a trail that detect count you as you pass by. These devices have been around for a long time. They work pretty well, but there are a few problems:

• data stays on the device until someone gets it,

• there is no shared database that working teams all have access to.

We have been working on both of these problems and now have a prototype Web service and connected trail counter ready to test. To be sure, these services are still in the early stages of development. We plan to test the system this winter and will be developing improvements over the next two semesters.