Saint George says trail counters logged more than 1 million uses; city to add sensors across county

Saint George City staff reported that 12 trail counters installed across the city's paved trail network have recorded more than 1 million pedestrian and bicycle trips since January 2024, and the city plans to add more counters across the county after receiving grant funding.

Melissa Anderson, community education staff for Saint George City, told meeting attendees the counters were installed to “help us understand the different times of day, seasonal patterns, and which trails are used more or less than others.” Anderson said the system logged slightly more bicycle crossings than pedestrian crossings — about 51% bicycles to 49% pedestrians — and that one popular location, Confluence Park, averages about 1,000 recorded travels per day.

The counters use two detection methods, staff explained. “When movement is detected through body heat, the trail counters use infrared light emitting beams across the trail,” Anderson said. City staff added that those infrared sensors are paired with inductive loops — wiring inside the trail — to detect bicycles and other metal-wheeled devices. City staff described a limitation: “Anytime it's crossed, by something holding enough metal, it detects it as a bicycle,” noting that a stroller’s metal can sometimes trigger different classifications.

Staff said the battery-operated units last about two years and were selected to operate across the area's wide temperature swings. The city currently has units on the Santa Clara River Trail, Snow Canyon Parkway Trail, Red Hills Parkway Trail, the university-area pedestrian tunnel at 400 South, the Bluff Street Pedestrian Tunnel and other entry points to the downtown trail system.

Anderson said the city shares the data with Greater Zion Tourism and with other local agencies and departments to guide maintenance and planning. She said the counts help officials identify busier and slower seasons and better inform decisions about trail upkeep and improvements.

Saint George applied for and has been awarded a grant through the Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization that will fund five additional years of the data-collection software and purchase 14 additional counters. According to staff, those 14 units will be distributed across Saint George, Washington City, Hurricane City, Ivan City and one unit for Washington County; Saint George will receive four new counters, bringing the city’s total to 16 monitoring locations.

City staff provided no formal vote or policy action during the presentation; officials described the announcement as an informational update and a deployment plan enabled by the MPO grant. Staff did not provide a complete itemized list of future installation dates or exact locations for the new units beyond the cities named, and the timeline for deployment was not specified.