Coronavirus: Kelowna’s pedestrian trackers show shift in behavior

The City of Kelowna is using its pedestrian trackers to monitor the shift that’s happening in people’s behaviour amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The trackers are typically either a small box attached to a pole or a wooden post marked by lines in the pavement, said Matthew Worona, the City of Kelowna’s mobility specialist.

“It can be small, it’s just a little bit of infrared beam, maybe some magnetic loops under the pavement, but not something you’d really notice if you’re riding around,” he added.

Approximately 30 trackers are spread throughout the downtown core and other places with a substantial pedestrian presence.

“Everything’s kind of showing us that things are entirely different than they were before. People are taking social distancing seriously,” Worona said.

“We’re seeing a 61 per cent decrease from that first week of March,” he added.

The city started installing the trackers approximately six years ago, and they give data in 15 minute intervals, Worona said.

While the trackers can’t be used to catch people congregating together, they do illustrate where people are going to get outside, he added.

“On those multiuse trails that are wider, where people feel like they can social distance, we’re seeing a large bump of activity,” Worona said.

Worona estimates there has been a 20 per cent spike in the use of the rail trail, mostly in the afternoon and evenings.

“Basically nothing else is happening the rest of the day, and everything is happening in this evening time frame,” Worona said. “And that activity is so high, it’s bigger than we’ve ever seen before by a large margin.”

Worona also said more people are getting out on their bikes.

“Knowing that it’s probably easier to social distance when you’re on a bike, and people have kind of been hearing that from a whole bunch of different sources,” he said.

He said that the city hasn’t seen a drop this large or a change in trends this quickly since the pedestrian trackers were installed.

More information on data provided by the pedestrian and cyclist trackers can be found here.