pedal poll/Sondo vélo

You can make an impact by collecting cycling data in your community

Pedal Poll/Sondo Vélo is a chance to evaluate the state of cycling in our communities. Together we get a “snapshot” of what cycling looks like in communities across Canada, at the same time, year over year. 

The data collected helps build the case for more, and better, cycling infrastructure. This growing data set is there for everyone to use to advocate for access to safe cycling choices for everyone, everywhere.
 

2022-2023 count results available

The results from the 2022 and 2023 counts have been analysed and are available as a series of tables, infographics and charts for each focus community. You are welcome to download your community’s results and share them widely. 

With this third year of counting we are just starting to witness longitudinal trends in the data. This demonstrates to us all the critical importance of going out to count at the same locations and times year after year so that we can get higher-quality observations. 

Sign up now for the 2024 count

Pedal Poll/Sondo Vélo 2024 is taking place June 4 to 9 in communities across Canada. 
You can sign up now to be notified when the counting shifts are ready. 

CounterPoint testing ahead of the 2024 count

We are currently recruiting volunteers and classrooms to go out and observe winter and transportation choices with the CounterPoint app to answer their own research questions and help us prepare for Pedal Poll 2024, taking place from June 4 to 9, 2024. 

How to participate

    1. Sign up to participate on this form
    2. You select the locations and times of interest on your campus or wider community to carry out the count. 
    3. Do a traffic mode share counts using the “Easy count” function in the Counterpoint app
    4. Complete an online survey to describe you experience using the app and carrying out the count. 
    5. Access the open data (available here) which you generated which can be shared with decision makers on your campus or community. 

Testing period

It would be ideal for this to take place in February or early March with the potential for an additional round in April or May to give the developer the time to integrate feedback into the app.

Instructors needed

Participation in this testing process offers your students the opportunity to gain practical experience doing research that can answer a variety of timely and relevant research questions. 

Students can gain practical experience

    • Carrying out primary research
    • Understanding transportation choices and infrastructure on campus or in their communities
    • Learning about mobile app development
    • Doing statistical analysis of a relevant dataset

Timely and relevant research questions

    • How does the type of infrastructure influence the share of different transportation modes?
    • How are people travelling to campus or to the school in our community?
    • How many more people will choose to walk and bike in the winter compared to the spring?
    • Where are the most popular “desire lines” where people are choosing to walk and cycle and no pedestrian or cycling infrastructure exists?
    • How many people participated in Winter Bike to Work Day in our community?

Several examples of the use of CounterPoint in undergraduate courses from Professor Anne Marie Murnaghan, York University. 

Pedal Poll/Sondo Vélo is a project of Vélo Canada Bikes, funded in part by the Government of Canada through the Active Transportation Fund administered by Infrastructure Canada in 2023 and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in 2021. The project has also received in-kind support from local cycling advocacy organizations, the CounterPoint app team, hundreds of community volunteers and the Cities, Health & Active Transportation Research Lab at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC 2021 and 2023) and the Healthy Populations Institute at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS (2022 and 2023). 2022 and 2023 data were analyzed by Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher.

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