And our nominees are…

Communication Award – Best communication for a bicycle infrastructure project

• City of Calgary (Canada)
  By communicating count data from the iconic pedestrian and cyclist “Peace Bridge” and their cycle tracks, The City of Calgary demonstrated the value of providing hard facts to the public in order to gain support for improvements to walking and cycling infrastructure. Calgary is now installing new cycle tracks in the city and will be sharing count data with the public via Eco-Counter displays and public webpages.
• Provincie Antwerpen (Belgium) Antwerpen Province in Belgium set up a regional bicycle counter network, thanks to the cooperation of over 50 different communal authorities to create a powerful communication tool : the Bicycle Barometer. This Barometer measures and aggregates 4 different types of data, which are : cycling attendance, infrastructure quality, cyclists opinion, and accident rate. This Barometer covers a 3,000km2 area to evaluate cycling practices, whether it is for leisure or commuting purposes.
• SANDAG – San Diego (USA)
  The San Diego Regional Bike and Pedestrian Counter Network is one of the largest in the United States. Across 15 jurisdictions in the San Diego region, 54 counters have been installed to allow for a robust analysis of biking and walking behavior. This network displays the data collected on a public webpage, providing access to those who would like to better understand general trends in active transportation over time. The network is a collaborative effort between SANDAG, San Diego State University, and the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency.

Monitoring Award – Pionneer in developing active transportation monitoring programs in its own country

• Eurométropole de Strasbourg (France) is a pioneer in France for its use of counting devices in a city to better analyze and develop its active transportation policies. Since 2008, it has developed a wide bicycle counter network to measure the steady rise of bicycle, which happened as a logical consequence of its ambitious policy in this field.
• City of Gothenburg (Sweden) is a pioneer in Sweden using counting devices for monitoring purposes on a national scale. Today Gothenburg owns one of the biggest counter network in Sweden and is using its expertise to advise monitoring projects nationwide.
• NGO Transporte Ativo is a pioneer in Brazil where it set up the first counting pilot project. With the use of a mobile counting device, the NGO pinpointed differences in bicycle usage between commuting and leisure profiles. This counting project has had wide media coverage and has managed to raise awareness about active transportation in Brazil.

Research Award – Best research project based on counting data

• Utsunomiya Kyowa University (Japan)
  Professor Koike of the Kyoawa University of Utsunomiya hold a comparative study on bicycle lane usage in order to understand bicycle safety issues encountered nowadays in Japan.
• City of Rostock (Germany) used counting devices and weather data to understand the impact of weather on bicycle use . Data was compiled and analyzed in a detailed report which was shared widely.
  
• Portland State University (TREC) (United States)The University of Portland is nominated in the “Research Award” category for conducting extensive counting equipment testing while making sure manufacturers are kept informed and have the opportunity to provide their input. In addition to this, Portland State University has developed guidelines and models to build more effective active transportation monitoring project.

Nationwide Data Collection Award – Collecting large-scale cycling data

• Départements & Régions Cyclables (France) developed a major nationwide data collection project to assess large-scale greenways attendance in France. This national database gathers data from over 300 counters spread across 38 different authorities.
• Rails to Trails Conservancy (United States)
  The Trail Modeling and Assessment Platform (T-MAP), launched in June 2014, is a $1.2 million, three-year initiative to create the next generation of urban trail planning tools. Through T-MAP, RTC is leading a nationwide effort to create a set of data collection instruments, methodologies and analysis tools that will transform the way America thinks about—and develops—trails and trail networks. Part of this project is using over 50 permanent counters across the United States to collect bicycle and pedestrians counts.
• Sustrans Charity (United-Kingdom) gathers data across the UK from over 3 000 counting sites and 145 different authorities into a national database to assess large-scale social, environmental, social and economic benefits of active transportation.

Two other awards will also be announced during the ceremony : one to reward someone who is particularly active in our field of expertise as Professional of the Year, and a Special Award for a very special project.