Darebin Bicycle User Group has partnered with Darebin Council to fund the installation of a solar-powered bike counter at the southern end of the sixth-busiest cycling route in Australia, the Great Northern Bikeway (St George’s Road path).

The counter faces north up the path and is also visible to motorists heading south. The counter records and displays daily and cumulative totals of cyclists on the path. The counter is the first solar powered bike counter in Australia and only the second bike counter in Australia, the first (of a different type) being on the Capital City Trail near Velo Cycles. An added benefit of the counter is that it provides immediate access to data, with 24-hour counts of bike traffic on the shared path.

Bike counters are a great promotional tool to help raise the profile of cycling to the general public. The counter will help to encourage people to ride by showing how many people are already doing it. It is hoped that having a highly visible count of the significant number of riders on the path will get people talking about the popularity of cycling and also help leverage support for increased investment in the St Georges Rd Path – widening the path and improving some of the problems at cross-over points, etc.