This Is What I Do

Advance Notice.  We started the 4-day project with 5 of these signs.
By the time we packed up at the end of Day 4, we only had 2 left
due to theft and vandalism.

In my Coffeeneuring #3 post, I described a current work project: 

[This involves] counting everyone using one of our local National Cycling Network routes. Our survey point is situated where the cycling route intersects with a footpath between a housing estate and the town's main park, which borders the main downtown shopping route. It's an extremely popular walking route. We are counting everyone using both the footpath and the cycling route at this junction, and recording each user according to gender, age bracket, mode of transport and destination (as they leave the crossroads). Additionally, we are conducting random interviews with users, asking where their current journey started and where it will end, the purpose of their journey, whether it involves another mode of transport (e.g. car, bus, train) and finally, whether they could have used a car but didn't and if so, why they didn't, in particular teasing out any reasons why they may have actively chosen not to use the car in favour of walking or cycling instead. 

I am managing a team of about 15 staff and volunteers, running in shifts from 7am to 7pm. My partner Adam (who is a volunteer) and I are responsible for setting up the site each morning at 6.30am and tearing it all down after 7pm each evening and transporting everything back to my workplace for storage until the next survey day. We have no choice as to survey days - these have been designated by The Powers That Be, with a goal to measuring differences between weekdays and weekends and also between days falling within the school term and those during school holidays.

Here's a little photo essay of what a day on the project looked like. 

5:50am: walking out the door

6am: nearly ready to roll

6.10am: on the road (along the ridge before descending Caddington Hill)

accidental Panda

6.20am: arriving at the Hub to find yet another flower has been
ripped out of our Garden Bike Stand

6.25am: hitching up the loaded trailer to the cargo bike

6.25am: trailer with supplies including table, chairs & gazebo

6.55am: all set up on location, waiting for our first route users to pass by

Recording a route user (gender, age group, mode of transport, destination/direction)

A view of our survey point

Sometimes it's very quiet - few people pass by and those that do
decline to participate in our survey

But lots of people (overall) do stop to chat.
Here, Terry (one of our volunteers) interviews a mother returning home
from doing her shopping in the town center. 

We worked in teams of 2, taking turns conducting interviews and counting everyone
using the paths to/from the crossroads.

User count forms, differentiated according to direction (destination)

Dusk approaches and the streetlamps come on.

Cheeky squirrel. One of many.

8pm: Taking the empty trailer home after Day 4.
It *just* clears the barriers along the cycleway. 

The project went really smoothly, thanks to lots of willing volunteers who turned up on time and worked hard! 80 interviews conducted on the busiest (first) day - which the national Project Team told me is more than many teams manage to conduct over the whole of four days! Numbers dropped drastically over the other 3 days, as it was school holidays, but I'm very pleased with our grand total of 243 interviews over the 4 days.

It was hard work taking up 100% of my time and attention, but it was fun too. At least, a little bit! Still, I'm quite relieved it's over. Til next year!