The pneumatic tubes and infrared sensor box caught my eye on the Dave Clark Path near Hill Street on July 31, 2025.
Most of the time the Dave Clark Trail along the Albany riverfront is not a busy place. But over time, the number of path users adds up, be they on foot or on two wheels.
That obvious conclusion is all I can come up with after seeing the results of a pedestrian and bicycle count conducted by the Albany Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The organization exists to coordinate transportation projects in and between Albany, Jefferson, Millersburg and Tangent. One of its projects is to work with its Corvallis area counterpart to create a bicycle and pedestrian count program that shares methods and equipment.
As part of this effort, the agency placed counters on the Dave Clark path near Hill Street that kept a tally over 20 days from July 31 through Aug. 19.
An infrared sensor counted walkers passing by, and pneumatic tubes on the ground kept track of cyclists. Presumably skateboarders were counted too, but I don’t know whether as pedestrians or cyclists, or both.
In any case, the sensor recorded 2,258 pedestrians passing that spot on the path in both directions. The daily total of walkers ranged from a low of 65 on Aug. 11, a Monday, to a high of 158 on Aug. 19, a Tuesday.
Bike riders totaled 1,258 over the 20 days. The lowest number was 42 on Aug. 11, the same Monday when the pedestrian total also was lowest. The high for bike riders was 87 on Aug. 14, a Thursday.
Billy McGregor, a staff member, presented the findings to the AAMPO policy board last week and sent me a copy.
He also reported the findings of an infrared pedestrian counter that was deployed on the path near Ferry Street from July 10 through 29. Totals were not displayed in a way that I could understand, but that counter showed spikes of walkers on two Thursdays when River Rhythm concerts were held in Monteith Riverpark.
He didn’t deploy bike-counting tubes on the Ferry Street path location because of heavy foot traffic and “caution to avoid creating a tripping hazard.”
The count results are interesting to people who, like me, use the riverfront path several times a week. They confirm what we only surmise or already know, namely that the path gets steady use, but not so much that there’s a crowd. (hh)
I live by the Dave Clark path and there are some extremely scary and dangerous homeless people for an example one of my friends young son got attacked by one of the homeless people they attacked my friends son with a broken beer bottle and is now in jail on a measure 11, I won’t walk the path at any time and I’ve installed camera’s for my safety and the safety of my neighbors, and I’m not given a way to post anonymously
It’d be interesting to have some context for these numbers. Are these numbers high or low or average? Compared to what (e.g., another path; the same path two years ago)? Presumably higher relative traffic translates to more funding for pedestrian/bike projects.
I enjoy occasionally walking the Dave Clark trail. Walked through the Saturday market a couple of days ago then walked the trial to Bowman Park and back. Like you said, not usually crowded and a nice walk. I bought lemonade from a nice young man at a garage sale.
It is not safe to walk anywhere in this whole country….that includes that it really isn’t safe to ride a bike in very many areas either. That is what we have come to. I saw a homeless person urinating into a garbage bag on the sidewalk at the big intersection on Geary and 9th in broad daylight. He had his overloaded shopping cart with him. He was probably high on drugs. The condition our country is in is a damned shame.
I am never in fear for my safety. Especially from some malnourished, drug riddled bum
You sound like a guy who packs a Glock. I’m just as afraid of your type as I am of a homeless person with a broken beer bottle.
These numbers have as much veracity as a Trump popularity poll at a PERS rally.