An example of an Active Transportation Monitoring device

City to begin installation of Active Transportation Monitoring devices across Oʻahu

News Release from City and County of Honolulu, November 2, 2022

HONOLULU – The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services (DTS) will soon begin installing multiple Active Transportation Monitoring (ATM) devices across Oʻahu.

These ATM devices will monitor and count the number of pedestrians and bicyclists who pass over the sensors. DTS strives to incorporate accurate usage data when it comes to the planning process and the way to prioritize needs in neighborhoods and communities across the island. These ATM devices will provide DTS with the necessary data to ensure we deliver effective solutions to specific community needs.

Data on bicycle and pedestrian travel is important for cities and cyclists alike. Bike and pedestrian counters will help DTS understand how people are using streets and paths, which will help plan for the future. Knowing how many people are biking and walking can help make informed decisions about where to install new connecting bike lanes, add more bike racks or widen sidewalks. Additionally, walking and bicycling data can be combined with existing data from other transportation modes to obtain a holistic understanding of travel patterns in Honolulu. 

Finally, the data that DTS collects through the ATM devices will help the City measure our progress toward making Honolulu a more pedestrian and bike-friendly city.

ATM devices can be installed at almost any location where bikes and pedestrians travel, including in bike lanes, along busy sidewalks or in off-street paths. DTS has selected 25 different locations across the island for ATM device installation, with 14 of them in the Honolulu area.

The locations of ATM installations across Oʻahu

Installations of ATM’s in the Honolulu area

The sensors that will be installed for bicyclists and pedestrians will differ. For bicycles, “inductive loops” will be used, similar to the diamond-shaped loops that exist at most City roadway intersections. These wired loops are embedded in the pavement and detect a change to the earth’s magnetic field that is created by a metallic object (bike) passing over the top of it. For pedestrians, a post containing a pyro-electric sensor will detect variations from the ambient temperature from people that walk next to it.

Installation of these ATM stations will begin November 7, 2022. Funding for this project was provided in part through grants from the Federal Highway Administration, in cooperation with the Oʻahu Metropolitan Planning Organization.

For more information on these ATM stations, please visit: https://bit.ly/3eJ89cz

—PAU—