Why should people count traffic?Â
10,831
count locations
21,369
count sessions
26,359
hours of data collected
About the App
CounterPoint is a transportation planning and measurement tool designed in 2013, to make traffic counting global, fun, easy and inclusive for all ages and disciplines. With more than 2500 count locations, and 2000 users in more than 75 countries, CounterPoint lets anyone with a smartphone spend a little time observing and recording the flow of traffic. After as little as a few minutes, you can get a valuable modal split reading that stays valid forever and remains comparable to sites around the globe now and into the future. The longer one spends in CounterPoint, the more useful the data is for everyone.
CounterPoint runs on crowdsourcing and citizen science. Data validity is transparent, simple and comparable with automatic counters. Anyone can download a spreadsheet with minute-by-minute record of the counts done at any location. An engineer or planner can verify any of the data easily by simply or doing a count themselves at a similar time – further adding to the history of counts at a given location. A politician can do the same. That’s how CounterPoint works – data collection that is open to the community that starts (and often ends) conversations about how our transportation systems are (and should be) working.
Importantly, CounterPoint’s definition of “traffic” includes everyone. The app’s simple User Interface comes with intuitive buttons for strollers, children’s bikes, cargo bikes, wheelchairs, cars and transit. CounterPoint therefore paints a unique, ever evolving, image of how we move that is extremely useful for transportation agencies, planners, engineers, bicycle advocates, and urbanists of all ages around the world. Most of all, CounterPoint can help you track progress on sustainable transportation systems in real time, and helps start meaningful conversations across boundaries.
How it Works
Open the app and find a counterpoint on the map. Or create your own anywhere you fancy.
At the counterpoint, picture an imaginary line accross the street.
When traffic passes your imaginary line, count it by tapping on the corresponding button.
When you’re done, choose environment conditions and submit your count. That's it.
The Importance of Counting Traffic
Here are our main reasons for developing CounterPoint:
Because people count
Counting traffic is a normal part of planning transportation, but right now, not everyone gets counted. We are changing that. If you want bike lanes on your street, for example, counting traffic is one of the best ways to get started.
Better Data = Better Solutions.
Who is using our roads and how? We need to understand the problem to create solutions. Counting traffic - even once - sets a baseline. That baseline can be analysed, tested and compared. Counting again later lets us test traffic solutions and prove whether they are working.
Because we can all help.
Planners, road engineers, doctors and politicians - we all need information to make good decisions. So do you. We made counterpoint for everyone. Whether you’re a student, an architect, a member of a bike group or anything in between, counting traffic helps and it will only make things better.