Eyes on the Street: UCLA Counts Bikes with Modern, Automated Counter

Last Friday, UCLA celebrated the placement of a digital bike counter on its campus on  Strathmore Place, west of Westwood Plaza and just east of the Strathmore Bridge. The placement is something of a historic moment. While popular in major bicycling cities throughout the world, it is only the second of its kind in California, the first in Southern California and the first of its kind on any college campus.

“We’re very excited about the counter’s benchmarking possibilities,” said UCLA Planning, Policy & Traffic Systems Senior Associate Director David Karwaski. “But more importantly, we see the counter as a gateway sign to our campus cyclists, letting them know they are welcomed and that they are an integral part of a larger UCLA bicycling community.”

Bicycling has become an increasingly popular commute option at UCLA, despite what you may hear at a Westwood South of Santa Monica Homeowner's Association meeting. With the installation of the Strathmore Bike Counter, UCLA  will count in real-time the number of cyclists who enter the campus through the Gayley Avenue/ Strathmore Place corridor.  It visibly counts daily bike riders through a digital numeric display and also indicates the annual number of cyclists with a scaled barometer.

“As more and more Bruins embrace a healthy lifestyle and with biking to campus doubling since 2006, the bike counter is a way to celebrate those who have chosen a healthy alternative for their daily commute and to build a greater sense of community among Bruin cyclists,” writes UCLA Events & Transportation Executive Director Renée Fortier. 

The Strathmore Bike Counter was made possible through a  grant from ASUCLA’s The Green Initiative Fund.