Bayway Bridge Bicyclists, Pedestrian and Trail Users Demand Analysis

Recently when preparing an assessment of a major bridge across Tampa Bay, FDOT needed to know how many nonmotorized users would use a proposed multi-use pathway across the Bay. They needed the answer immediately for a CMAQ funding application. In eight hours, Sprinkle Consulting staff ran three separate analyses to answer the question, ‘If we build it, how many will come? FHWA’s predictive calculator was first used. It employs very significant assumptions and yields a wide range of user volumes; it does not provide information on user types (recreational as opposed utilitarian). Next, we performed a comparative surrogates analysis using actual counts on similar facilities. Finally, we used FDOT’s mode shift and recreational demand predictive methodology developed by Sprinkle Consulting for projects just such as this one. Correlation between the comparative surrogate analyses and the FDOT method was excellent. As an added step, Sprinkle Consulting calculated potential fuel savings and emissions reductions that would result from the construction of the proposed multi-use path.