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LADOT To Begin First-Ever Count Of Pedestrians, Bicyclists On City Streets

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Department of Transportation was set to begin its first-ever count of people who walk and bike on the city's streets Friday.

The count would rely on cameras from the city's Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control System, along with volunteers assigned to specific locations, to monitor the number of people walking and cycling on the streets.

Information gathered during the count would be used to guide future pedestrian and bike infrastructure projects throughout the city, according to LADOT.

"What gets measured matters," Seleta Reynolds, LADOT general manager,  said. "As we continue to transform our streets to meet climate and safety goals, the way we measure their use transforms, too."

The count — scheduled to be conducted Saturday and Sunday, again on Oct.26-27 and finally on Nov. 2-3 — was partially funded by an $825,000 grant from the Toyota Mobility Foundation, the city's Information Technology Agency and California State Los Angeles.

In addition to the count, LADOT said the grant money would also be used for a pilot program that will run over the next two years to install new cameras, sensors and updated to machine learning software in an effort to expand personal mobility options.

CSULA students and researchers created the video recognition algorithm to count pedestrians and cyclists.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

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