Downtown Denver Summer 2013 Pedestrian Report Funded by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc. Research Department Research Department 511 16 th Street, Suite 200, Denver, CO 80202 303-534-6161 www.downtowndenver.com
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 2013. 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 2013. 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
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 2011. 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 - 2011 ZONE B - 2012 ZONE C - 2013 ZONE D - 2014 GALAPAGO ST FOX ST W 13TH AVE ELATI ST DELAWARE ST 104 13TH ST COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER 71 73 100 DENVER PERFORMING ARTS COMPLEX 105 133 132 165 137 164 14TH ST WEWATTA ST CIVIC CENTER PARK 12 13 17 16 18 19 20 43 45 15TH ST COURT PL 42 46 70 69 74 99 75 98 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 77 78 79 ARAPAHOE ST 97 96 95 94 17TH ST WELTON ST MARKET ST CURTIS ST CHAMPA ST STOUT ST CALIFORNIA ST 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 RTD LIGHT RAIL 1B 193 199 198 197 196 195 194 TREMONT PL 2B 32B 210 206 207 208 209 31B 33B 232 231 230 3B 30B 34B 244 4B 29B 35B 15 41 47 68 GLENARM PL SHERMAN ST A 21 40 48 67 GRANT ST 18TH ST AN ST D 1-H B 22 BROADWAY C 23 39 38 49 50 66 65 106 107 108 109 110 111 131 138 163 130 139 162 129 140 161 28B 37B 128 141 160 36B 127 142 159 Pedestrian Four Year Zone Plan 126 143 158 20TH ST E 17TH AVE WEWATTA ST COORS FIELD E 18TH AVE CALI GLENARM TREMONT E 19TH AVE W 2
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 15,000 + 12,500-14,999 10,000-12,499 7,500-9,999 5,000-7,499 2,500-4,999 0-2,499 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 1,266 653 5,851 14,539 6,057 3,333 3,681 277 1,728 9,013 7,287 5,965 4,128 2,796 672 3,791 26,115 4,876 3,081 1,321 4,957 6,514 3,212 2,040 2,658 531 3,496 12,148 5,871 4,445 1,015 1,705 5,492 15,597 1,857 1592 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
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 7,753,601 149,108 23,857 16th between Glenarm and Welton 7,327,264 140,909 22,545 16th between Welton and California 9,187,769 176,688 28,270 16th between California and Stout 9,614,111 184,887 29,582 16th between Lawrence and Larimer 5,069,169 97,484 15,597 16th between Blake and Market 8,487,476 163,221 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 7,098,170 136,503 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
Special Events The BID counted pedestrian activity on the 16th Street Mall during a special event, Make Music Denver, in June 2013. 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 1,000 500 0 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 303-571-8216. Pedestrian count sheets and counter instructions are available upon request. 8
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 61,446 168 61 140,699 385 277-56% 14th Ct. bet. Wazee and Blake 102 197,625 541 141 278,763 764 653-29% 14th St. bet. Arapahoe & Lawrence 337 / 429 340,072 / 799,219 1,561 649 / 387 748,475 / 823,970 2,154 1,857-28% 14th St. bet. Blake and Market 156 290,625 796 94 200,137 548 672 45% 14th St. bet. California & Stout 511 / 428 515,658 / 823,438 1,834 317 / 395 365,588 / 911,086 1,749 1,792 5% 14th St. bet. Larimer and Lawrence* 168 312,981 857 92 195,879 537 697 60% 14th St. bet. Market and Larimer 112 193,750 531 531 n/a 15th bet. Blake and Market 603 1,436,836 3,937 509 1,330,671 3,646 3,791 8% 15th bet. Champa and Stout 456 883,500 2,421 509 1,127,071 3,088 2,754-22% 15th bet. Market and Larimer 723 1,400,813 3,838 520 1,151,429 3,155 3,496 22% 15th bet. Wazee and Blake 834 2,345,625 6,426 599 1,925,357 5,275 5,851 22% 15th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 765 2,241,211 6,140 540 1,808,036 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 / 5690 5590 / 5841 12,270,833 / 9,038,802 10830625 / 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 / 4262 11,106,026 / 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 12,762 971 3,251,116 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 5,758 632 1,457,738 3,994 4,876 44% 17th bet. Market and Larimer 1,285 2,489,688 6,821 811 1,795,786 4,920 5,871 39% 17th bet. Wazee and Blake 691 1,868,690 5,120 826 2,552,885 6,994 6,057-27% 17th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 697 1,884,916 5,164 498 1,539,148 4,217 4,690 22%
Block AM PM PM count) PM count) ** Percent change between AM and PM*** 18th bet. Blake and Market 617 1,195,438 3,275 476 1,054,000 2,888 3,081 13% 18th bet. Market and Larimer 925 1,866,862 5,115 506 1,377,946 3,775 4,445 35% 18th bet. Wazee and Blake 450 1,318,359 3,612 333 1,114,955 3,055 3,333 18% 18th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 620 1,816,406 4,976 462 1,546,875 4,238 4,607 17% 19th bet. Blake and Market 283 548,313 1,502 188 416,286 1,141 1,321 32% 19th bet. Market and Larimer 206 415,755 1,139 141 325,223 891 1,015 28% 19th bet. Wazee and Blake 418 1,343,571 3,681 3,681 n/a 19th bet. Wewatta and Wynkoop* 194 568,359 1,557 123 411,830 1,128 1,343 38% 19th bet. Wynkoop and Wazee 143 386,719 1,060 151 466,690 1,279 1,169-17% 20th bet. Blake and Market* 164 330,990 907 324 747,321 2,047 1,477-56% 20th bet. Market and Larimer* 98 197,786 542 180 415,179 1,137 840-52% 20th bet. Wazee and Blake* 120 351,563 963 197 659,598 1,807 1,385-47% 20th bet. Wewatta and Wazee* 97 135,532 371 116 185,234 507 439-27% Arapahoe bet. 16th & 17th 1,995 3,865,313 10,590 724 1,603,143 4,392 7,491 141% Blake bet. 14th and 15th 250 571,875 1,567 206 689,732 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 6,005 973 3,127,500 8,568 7,287-30% Blake bet. 17th and 18th 1,188 2,717,550 7,445 626 1,636,543 4,484 5,965 66% Blake bet. 18th and 19th 770 1,761,375 4,826 479 1,252,243 3,431 4,128 41% Blake bet. 19th and 20th 422 965,325 2,645 395 1,075,670 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 6,807 530 / 1,584 1,222,470 / 1,826,785 4,177 5,492 63% Larimer bet. 15th and 16th* 407 821,419 2,250 410 945,685 2,591 2,421-13% Larimer bet. 16th and 17th* 413 833,529 2,284 341 786,533 2,155 2,219 6% Larimer bet. 17th and 18th* 193 389,518 1,067 171 394,420 1,081 1,074-1% Larimer bet. 18th and 19th* 339 631,550 1,730 182 387,500 1,062 1,396 63% Larimer bet. 19th and 20th* 218 439,974 1,205 162 373,661 1,024 1,115 18% Larimer bet. Speer and 14th 275 555,013 1,521 299 689,658 1,889 1,705-20% Lawrence bet. 13th/Speer and 14th* 182 339,063 929 104 221,429 607 768 53% 9
Block AM PM PM count) PM count) ** Percent change between AM and PM*** Market between 14th and 15th 554 1,498,197 4,105 686 2,120,192 5,809 4,957-29% Market between 15th and 16th* 516 1,511,719 4,142 355 1,188,616 3,256 3,699 27% Market between 16th and 17th 1,257 2,874,244 7,875 720 1,880,979 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 212 427,865 1,172 317 1,061,384 2,908 2,040-60% Market between 19th and 20th 385 745,938 2,044 561 1,194,437 3,272 2,658-38% Speer between Blake and Market* 142 264,543 725 41 87,294 239 482 203% Speer between Larimer and Lawrence* 273 550,977 1,510 390 899,554 2,465 1,987-39% Speer between Market and Larimer* 21 42,383 116 23 53,051 145 131-20% Speer between Wewatta and Wazee* 56 78,245 214 89 142,119 389 302-45% Stout between 14th and 15th 730 1,443,240 3,954 3,954 n/a Wazee between 15th and 16th 708 1,991,250 5,455 460 1,478,571 4,051 4,753 35% Wazee between 16th and 17th 1,429 4,186,523 11,470 771 2,581,473 7,073 9,271 62% Wazee between 17th and 18th 423 1,239,258 3,395 370 1,238,839 3,394 3,395 0% Wazee between 18th and 19th 247 723,633 1,983 157 525,670 1,440 1,711 38% Wazee between 19th and 20th 147 413,438 1,133 159 511,071 1,400 1,266-19% Wazee between Cherry Creek and 15th 274 770,625 2,111 277 856,113 2,346 2,228-10% Wewatta between 14th and 15th* 239 646,334 1,771 156 482,143 1,321 1,546 34% Wynkoop between 14th and 15th* 548 1,541,250 4,223 309 955,014 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 5,461 481 1,486,607 4,073 4,767 34% Wynkoop between 17th and 18th* 569 1,538,762 4,216 413 1,276,442 3,497 3,856 21% Wynkoop between 18th and 19th 602 1,693,125 4,639 316 1,058,036 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
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% 1000 6% 5% 6% 5% 1100 7% 6% 8% 8% 1200 9% 7% 9% 10% 1300 9% 7% 10% 13% 1400 8% 9% 9% 11% 1500 8% 9% 8% 8% 1600 7% 9% 7% 7% 1700 7% 8% 6% 6% 1800 7% 8% 7% 6% 1900 7% 8% 7% 6% 2000 7% 8% 6% 6% 2100 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