Downtown Denver Summer 2013 Pedestrian Count Report

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1 Downtown Denver Summer 2013 Pedestrian Report Funded by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc. Research Department Research Department th Street, Suite 200, Denver, CO

2 INTRODUCTION Since 1994, the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District (BID) has funded two pedestrian counts in Downtown Denver each year. The BID conducts a comprehensive count in the summer and a partial count in the winter. This report summarizes data collected during the summer of Pedestrian counts allow Downtown Denver stakeholders to: Measure pedestrian traffic for prospective Downtown Denver retailers, developers and businesses. Determine the impact of new development. Predict or measure success of a Downtown Denver event. Help determine priority areas for streetscape and amenity projects. Locate areas where increased police presence and cleaning services may be needed. METHODOLOGY Timeframe The 2013 summer pedestrian counts took place from June 18 th to August 21 st. Process The BID hired individuals to count pedestrians as they passed a specific spot located in the middle of the block on one side of the street. ers used automatic, handheld tally counters to count pedestrians on both weekdays and weekends during the middle of the day (11:30am-1:30pm) and the evening (5:00pm-7:00pm). BID staff entered and analyzed data collected by counters. From these two hour counts, BID staff used a tool developed by the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project to estimate daily, weekly, monthly and annual pedestrian counts. For more information on this extrapolation process, please see appendix B. Weather Weather can have an impact on both pedestrian activity and the ability to conduct pedestrian counts. Occasionally, the BID needs to reschedule counts due to severe weather and counters record weather conditions as they count pedestrians. Weather conditions during the summer 2013 pedestrian counts were favorable, with average temperatures and minimal precipitation. The average mean temperature for the 18 days the counts took place was 74. The high temperature recorded during the count time period was 89, a little higher than the historical average of 82. The low temperature recorded during the count time period was 58, also higher than the historical average of 53. During the 18 days counting occurred, 0.54 inches of precipitation fell in Denver, with one of these days having more than a trace of precipitation. While counts were conducted before historic rainfall fell over the metro area during mid-september, various Saturday counts had to be canceled due to rain. Thus, counters were not able to complete all Saturday counts in the summer of External Influences and Limitations In addition to weather, a variety of other outside factors can influence pedestrian counts, including special events, conferences and/or construction. Pedestrian counters record any obvious outside influences throughout their shifts that may impact pedestrian activity and the BID takes these notes into account during data analysis. However, it is not possible to control for all external influences and thus year-to-year variation in counts is expected. Additionally, counts are subject to potential human and equipment errors. The BID carefully manages the pedestrian count process in order to minimize potential errors and is confident in the count s results. 1

3 16 TH ST MALL 19TH ST 21ST ST 22ND ST site selection: Pedestrian counts occur at core sites, zone sites and timely sites. The BID counts pedestrian activity at 12 core sites at least once a year on both weekends and weekdays. Core sites are included in every summer count and are given priority consideration for off-season counts. The Pedestrian Program selected the following core sites based on historical counts and the vision set forth by the 2007 Downtown Area Plan: 16th between Tremont and Glenarm 16th between Glenarm and Welton 16th between Welton and California 16th between California and Stout 16th between Lawrence and Larimer 16th between Blake and Wazee 14th between California and Stout 14th between Arapahoe and Lawrence Wazee between 16th and 17th Larimer between 14th and 15th Arapahoe between 16th and 17th California between 15th and 16th In addition to these core sites, pedestrian counts take place in a certain zone that covers a quarter of the blocks in the BID. With the goal of measuring pedestrian activity on every block in the BID, the Pedestrian Program developed a rotating zone program in The 120 blocks within the BID s boundaries belong to one of four zones, with pedestrian counts occurring in one zone every four years. The map on this page shows the four zones within the BID. In the summer of 2013, pedestrian counts occurred throughout Zone C. Zone C includes the historic LoDo neighborhood, the area adjacent to the Union Station redevelopment, and also borders Coors Field. In addition to core and zone sites, the BID counts pedestrians at various timely sites based on special requests, proposed investment or development, sporting or other events, or unique conditions. SPEER BLVD CHERRY CREEK TRAIL ZONE A ZONE B ZONE C ZONE D GALAPAGO ST FOX ST W 13TH AVE ELATI ST DELAWARE ST TH ST COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER DENVER PERFORMING ARTS COMPLEX TH ST WEWATTA ST CIVIC CENTER PARK TH ST COURT PL CLEVELAND PL LINCOLN ST RTD CIVIC CENTER STATION 5B DENVER UNION STATION WYNKOOP ST WAZEE ST BLAKE ST LARIMER ST LAWRENCE ST SKYLINE 76 PARK ARAPAHOE ST TH ST WELTON ST MARKET ST CURTIS ST CHAMPA ST STOUT ST CALIFORNIA ST RTD LIGHT RAIL 1B TREMONT PL 2B 32B B 33B B 30B 34B 244 4B 29B 35B GLENARM PL SHERMAN ST A GRANT ST 18TH ST AN ST D 1-H B 22 BROADWAY C B 37B B Pedestrian Four Year Zone Plan TH ST E 17TH AVE WEWATTA ST COORS FIELD E 18TH AVE CALI GLENARM TREMONT E 19TH AVE W 2

4 19TH ST 21ST ST 22ND ST AVERAGE DAILY PEDESTRIAN ACTIVITY The following map shows the estimated number of pedestrians that walk on a specific block in Downtown Denver on an average day. The numbers on this map are extrapolated from two-hour counts. See Appendix A and B for more information about the extrapolation process. Pedestrian 15, ,500-14,999 10,000-12,499 7,500-9,999 5,000-7,499 2,500-4, ,499 13TH ST SPEER DENVER PERFORMING ARTS COMPLEX WAZEE ST 14TH ST WEWATTA ST 15TH ST MARKET STREET STATION DENVER UNION STATION WYNKOOP ST 5,547 14,218 4,690 4,607 1,169 2,228 4,753 9,271 3,395 1,711 1, ,851 14,539 6,057 3,333 3, ,728 9,013 7,287 5,965 4,128 2, ,791 26,115 4,876 3,081 1,321 4,957 6,514 3,212 2,040 2, ,496 12,148 5,871 4,445 1,015 1,705 5,492 15,597 1, LARIMER ST 17TH ST SKYLINE PARK ARAPAHOE ST LAWRENCE ST 20TH ST E WEWATTA ST COORS FIELD MARKET ST CHAMPA ST SPEER BLVD CHERRY CREEK TRAIL GALAPAGO ST FOX ST ELATI ST ELAWARE ST COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER COURT PL CLEVELAND PL 16 TH ST MALL 7,491 18TH ST CURTIS ST BLAKE ST 3 W 13TH A 2,754 3,954 1,792 29,582 7,235 28,270 22,545 WELTON ST STOUT ST CALIFORNIA ST GLENARM PL 23,857 TREMONT PL BROADWAY RTD LIGHT RAIL CA GLENARM TREMON

5 ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS Pedestrian Changes Throughout the Day Most blocks in the BID have slightly higher pedestrian traffic during the middle of the day than during the evening, however counts on some blocks show more extreme pattens. On average, mid-day pedestrian traffic is 14% higher than evening pedestrian traffic. The following table shows blocks that have the largest difference between mid-day and evening pedestrian traffic. For a full list of counts, see appendix A. Blocks with higher mid-day pedestrian traffic Speer between Blake and Market* Arapahoe between 16th & 17th Blake between 17th and 18th Larimer between 18th and 19th* Larimer between 14th & 15th Wazee between 16th and 17th Wynkoop between 14th and 15th* Wynkoop between 18th and 19th 14th St. between Larimer and Lawrence* Lawrence between 13th/Speer and 14th* Blocks with higher evening pedestrian traffic Market between 18th and 19th 14th Court between Blake and Market 20th between Blake and Market 20th between Market and Larimer* 20th between Wazee and Blake* Speer between Wewatta and Wazee* Speer between Larimer and Lawrence* Market between 19th and 20th Blake between 16th and 17th Market between 14th and 15th *Denotes block where only one side of the street was counted because other side is outside of BID and Zone boundaries 16th Street Mall As the main pedestrian thoroughfare in the BID, measuring pedestrian activity on the 16 th Street Mall is a major goal of the Pedestrian Program. sites along the 16 th Street Mall have the highest amount of pedestrian traffic in Downtown Denver. In fact, the top ten highest counts were all on the 16 th Street Mall. The BID estimates that the average daily pedestrian activity for a block on the 16 th Street Mall ranges from a low of 14,218 pedestrians to a high of 29,582 pedestrians. (note: these numbers are extrapolated from twohour counts; see appendices for more information about the extrapolation process.) Block Ave. Weekly Ave. Pedestrian Pedestrian Pedestrian 16th between Tremont and Glenarm 7,753, ,108 23,857 16th between Glenarm and Welton 7,327, ,909 22,545 16th between Welton and California 9,187, ,688 28,270 16th between California and Stout 9,614, ,887 29,582 16th between Lawrence and Larimer 5,069,169 97,484 15,597 16th between Blake and Market 8,487, ,221 26,115 16th between Wazee and Blake 4,725,033 90,866 14,539 16th between Wynkoop and Wazee 4,620,935 88,864 14,218 16th Street Mall AVERAGE 7,098, ,503 21,841 16th between Wewatta and Wynkoop* 3,521,272 67,717 10,835 16th between Market and Larimer* 3,948,126 75,926 12,148 * impacted by construction on block. Not included in average. 7

6 Special Events The BID counted pedestrian activity on the 16th Street Mall during a special event, Make Music Denver, in June Make Music Denver resulted in a 45% increase in pedestrian activity between 11:30am and 1:30pm and a 106% increase between 5:00pm and 7:00pm on 16th Street between Glenarm and Welton. Impact of Make Music Denver Event on Pedestrian Activity 4,500 4,000 Total Pedestrians (16th between Glenarm and Welton) 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 Event Weekday Non-event Weekday 1,500 1, Mid-Day Evening CONCLUSION Outlook for 2014 In 2014, the BID will count pedestrians in the Broadway and Lincoln area within Zone D of the BID. This count will provide important baseline data for the area near the Civic Center Park as well as the RTD Civic Center Transit Station. After next summer s counts, the BID will have completed its four-year rotation and thus, will have a pedestrian count for every block in the BID. In early 2014, the BID will install automatic pedestrian counters at several locations in Downtown Denver. The BID will re-evaluate the pedestrian count program after the 2014 counts, taking into consideration the results from and experience with the automatic pedestrian counters. Acknowledgments The Downtown Denver Business Improvement District thanks the Summer 2013 pedestrian counters who spent hours counting pedestrians around Downtown Denver. The BID also thanks the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project and Alta Planning and Design for providing a model for pedestrian extrapolations. About this Report The Summer Pedestrian report is created by the Downtown Denver Research Department. Staff contributors and editors include: Riley LaMie, Emily Brett, Aylene McCallum and John Desmond. Please direct any questions about this report to Emily Brett at ebrett@downtowndenver.com or Pedestrian count sheets and counter instructions are available upon request. 8

7 APPENDIX A: FULL RESULTS Block AM PM PM count) (based on PM count) ** Percent change between AM and PM*** 14th Ct. bet. Blake and Market 37 61, , % 14th Ct. bet. Wazee and Blake , , % 14th St. bet. Arapahoe & Lawrence 337 / ,072 / 799,219 1, / ,475 / 823,970 2,154 1,857-28% 14th St. bet. Blake and Market , , % 14th St. bet. California & Stout 511 / ,658 / 823,438 1, / ,588 / 911,086 1,749 1,792 5% 14th St. bet. Larimer and Lawrence* , , % 14th St. bet. Market and Larimer , n/a 15th bet. Blake and Market 603 1,436,836 3, ,330,671 3,646 3,791 8% 15th bet. Champa and Stout ,500 2, ,127,071 3,088 2,754-22% 15th bet. Market and Larimer 723 1,400,813 3, ,151,429 3,155 3,496 22% 15th bet. Wazee and Blake 834 2,345,625 6, ,925,357 5,275 5,851 22% 15th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 765 2,241,211 6, ,808,036 4,954 5,547 24% 16th bet. Blake and Market 4,616 10,152,981 27,816 3,545 8,911,195 24,414 26,115 14% 16th bet. California and Stout 16th bet. Glenarm and Welton 6080 / / ,270,833 / 9,038, / 6,736,272 29,191 4,743 10,939,955 29,972 29,582-3% 24,064 3,466 7,674,714 21,027 22,545 14% 16th bet. Lawrence and Larimer 3,119 6,043,063 16,556 2,413 5,343,071 14,639 15,597 13% 16th bet. Market and Larimer 2,418 4,880,078 13,370 1,729 3,988,021 10,926 12,148 22% 16th bet. Tremont and Glenarm 6420 / ,106,026 / 5,734,462 23,069 3,900 8,995,536 24,645 23,857-6% 16th bet. Wazee and Blake 2,794 5,413,375 14,831 1,553 5,199,777 14,246 14,539 4% 16th bet. Welton and California 6,230 12,070,625 33,070 3,714 8,566,518 23,470 28,270 41% 16th bet. Wewatta and Wynkoop* 1,590 4,658,203 12, ,251,116 8,907 10,835 43% 16th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 2,231 6,274,688 17,191 1,277 4,104,643 11,246 14,218 53% 17th bet. Blake and Market 882 2,101,641 5, ,457,738 3,994 4,876 44% 17th bet. Market and Larimer 1,285 2,489,688 6, ,795,786 4,920 5,871 39% 17th bet. Wazee and Blake 691 1,868,690 5, ,552,885 6,994 6,057-27% 17th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 697 1,884,916 5, ,539,148 4,217 4,690 22%

8 Block AM PM PM count) PM count) ** Percent change between AM and PM*** 18th bet. Blake and Market 617 1,195,438 3, ,054,000 2,888 3,081 13% 18th bet. Market and Larimer 925 1,866,862 5, ,377,946 3,775 4,445 35% 18th bet. Wazee and Blake 450 1,318,359 3, ,114,955 3,055 3,333 18% 18th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 620 1,816,406 4, ,546,875 4,238 4,607 17% 19th bet. Blake and Market ,313 1, ,286 1,141 1,321 32% 19th bet. Market and Larimer ,755 1, , ,015 28% 19th bet. Wazee and Blake 418 1,343,571 3,681 3,681 n/a 19th bet. Wewatta and Wynkoop* ,359 1, ,830 1,128 1,343 38% 19th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee ,719 1, ,690 1,279 1,169-17% 20th bet. Blake and Market* , ,321 2,047 1,477-56% 20th bet. Market and Larimer* , ,179 1, % 20th bet. Wazee and Blake* , ,598 1,807 1,385-47% 20th bet. Wewatta and Wazee* , , % Arapahoe bet. 16th & 17th 1,995 3,865,313 10, ,603,143 4,392 7, % Blake bet. 14th and 15th ,875 1, ,732 1,890 1,728-17% Blake bet. 15th and 16th 1,339 3,062,963 8,392 1,094 3,516,429 9,634 9,013-13% Blake bet. 16th and 17th 1,086 2,191,797 6, ,127,500 8,568 7,287-30% Blake bet. 17th and 18th 1,188 2,717,550 7, ,636,543 4,484 5,965 66% Blake bet. 18th and 19th 770 1,761,375 4, ,252,243 3,431 4,128 41% Blake bet. 19th and 20th ,325 2, ,075,670 2,947 2,796-10% California bet. 15th and 16th 1,334 2,584,625 7,081 1,218 2,697,000 7,389 7,235-4% Larimer bet. 14th & 15th 1,231 2,484,440 6, / 1,584 1,222,470 / 1,826,785 4,177 5,492 63% Larimer bet. 15th and 16th* ,419 2, ,685 2,591 2,421-13% Larimer bet. 16th and 17th* ,529 2, ,533 2,155 2,219 6% Larimer bet. 17th and 18th* ,518 1, ,420 1,081 1,074-1% Larimer bet. 18th and 19th* ,550 1, ,500 1,062 1,396 63% Larimer bet. 19th and 20th* ,974 1, ,661 1,024 1,115 18% Larimer bet. Speer and 14th ,013 1, ,658 1,889 1,705-20% Lawrence bet. 13th/Speer and 14th* , , % 9

9 Block AM PM PM count) PM count) ** Percent change between AM and PM*** Market between 14th and 15th 554 1,498,197 4, ,120,192 5,809 4,957-29% Market between 15th and 16th* 516 1,511,719 4, ,188,616 3,256 3,699 27% Market between 16th and 17th 1,257 2,874,244 7, ,880,979 5,153 6,514 53% Market between 17th and 18th 593 1,172,385 3,212 3,212 n/a Market between 18th and 19th ,865 1, ,061,384 2,908 2,040-60% Market between 19th and 20th ,938 2, ,194,437 3,272 2,658-38% Speer between Blake and Market* , , % Speer between Larimer and Lawrence* ,977 1, ,554 2,465 1,987-39% Speer between Market and Larimer* 21 42, , % Speer between Wewatta and Wazee* 56 78, , % Stout between 14th and 15th 730 1,443,240 3,954 3,954 n/a Wazee between 15th and 16th 708 1,991,250 5, ,478,571 4,051 4,753 35% Wazee between 16th and 17th 1,429 4,186,523 11, ,581,473 7,073 9,271 62% Wazee between 17th and 18th 423 1,239,258 3, ,238,839 3,394 3,395 0% Wazee between 18th and 19th ,633 1, ,670 1,440 1,711 38% Wazee between 19th and 20th ,438 1, ,071 1,400 1,266-19% Wazee between Cherry Creek and 15th ,625 2, ,113 2,346 2,228-10% Wewatta between 14th and 15th* ,334 1, ,143 1,321 1,546 34% Wynkoop between 14th and 15th* 548 1,541,250 4, ,014 2,616 3,420 61% Wynkoop between 15th and 16th* 1,511 4,249,688 11,643 1,104 3,548,571 9,722 10,683 20% Wynkoop between 16th and 17th* 737 1,993,089 5, ,486,607 4,073 4,767 34% Wynkoop between 17th and 18th* 569 1,538,762 4, ,276,442 3,497 3,856 21% Wynkoop between 18th and 19th 602 1,693,125 4, ,058,036 2,899 3,769 60% * reflects pedestrians on one side of the street (vs. the typical two-sided count) due to various factors including BID or zone boundaries, construction, or missing count ** between average based on AM count and average based on PM count *** Percent change between average daily traffic based on AM count and average daily traffic based on PM count

10 APPENDIX B: EXPLANATION OF NBPD EXTRAPOLATION PROCESS The National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project, along with Alta Planning and Design and the Institute of Transportation Engineers, developed a tool to estimate daily, weekly, monthly, and annual pedestrian activity from 2-hour pedestrian counts. This model takes into account the time of day, day of the week, climate, and type of pedestrian environment. Extrapolated numbers are based on the following adjustments. Contact DDP or visit bikepeddocumentation.org for more information. Table 1: Hourly Adjustments Model assumes 95% of pedestrian traffic occurs between 6am and 10pm; Downtown is considered a PED District APR-SEP OCT-MAR PED District PED District wkdy wkend wkdy wkend Hour % of ped traffic % of ped traffic 600 1% 1% 1% 0% 700 2% 1% 2% 1% 800 4% 3% 3% 2% 900 5% 3% 5% 4% % 5% 6% 5% % 6% 8% 8% % 7% 9% 10% % 7% 10% 13% % 9% 9% 11% % 9% 8% 8% % 9% 7% 7% % 8% 6% 6% % 8% 7% 6% % 8% 7% 6% % 8% 6% 6% % 8% 5% 5% Table 2: Adjustments Day % of weekly ped traffic SUN 18% MON 14% TUES 13% WED 12% THURS 12% FRI 14% SAT 18% Table 3: Monthly Adjustments climate) % of yearly ped month traffic JAN 7% FEB 7% MAR 8% APR 8% MAY 8% JUN 8% JUL 12% AUG 16% SEP 8% OCT 6% NOV 6% DEC 6% 12

Downtown Denver Summer 2012 Pedestrian Count Report

Downtown Denver Summer 2012 Pedestrian Report Funded by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc. Research Department Research Department 511 16 th Street, Suite