Counting display "Ecocounter" Bicycles - Ottawa, ON
Posted by: elyob
N 45° 25.211 W 075° 42.726
18T E 444287 N 5029876
The counter displays the number of bicycles which cross the Portage Bridge.
Waymark Code: WM11QKT
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 12/04/2019
Views: 25
Bidirectional bike lanes run along the east side of the Portage Bridge. This bridge connects the city of Gatineau (Québec) and the city of Ottawa (Ontario). This inter-provincial bridge carries plenty of tourist and commuter cyclists.
The counter displays the number of cyclists which have crossed the bridge through the day. A bar graph shows the total number of cyclists using the bridge through the calendar year. In 2017, 345 000 cycle trips were recorded. That is the maximum for the current bar graph.
In 2019, the Portage Bridge received a makeover which included construction of a protective barrier for the bike lanes. During that time, the Ecocounter was protected and switched off. The counter was not scheduled for reactivation until spring 2020.
Fortunately for waymarking, the counter is again up and running. Even on a snowy December day, 207 cyclists passed the counter before noon.
The city of Ottawa maintains a web site which presents data from twelve bicycle trip counters. Interestingly, this counter waymark is not in that group of counters. This counter is maintained by the National Capital Commission (NCC), a national body rather than a municipal body.