Using Strava Metro Data to Improve Pima County’s Urban Trail — The Chuck Huckelberry Loop

Pima County, located in Tucson, Arizona, is committed to enhancing the user experience on the 155-mile Chuck Huckelberry Loop (Loop), named the #1 urban recreational trail by USA Today for 2021 and 2022. The county has been utilizing a variety of data sources, including ten permanent counter stations and crowdsourced data from Strava Metro, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the trail’s usage patterns. These trends and data will be used to help trail managers better prioritize various aspects of operations, maintenance, and long-term planning efforts. They also use data on times of usage and look at the most heavily used segments to prioritize pavement preservation and make the trail a smooth ride for all.

One of the most useful insights gained from Strava Metro data is the speed at which users are traveling on the trail. “We know that Strava is being used by a very specific user group. So if we can look at their speed data, that helps set the upper limit of how fast people are going through certain sections, then we can plan safety features accordingly,” said Joseph Cuffari, a program manager with Pima County.

By analyzing this information, the county can make decisions on how to recontour certain areas to improve safety, slow down traffic, or see where to install decomposed granite pathways to help separate users from each other. The car-free Loop path does have openings that connect to bike lanes along busy city streets, so the county is looking at origin and destination Strava data to see how people are accessing the pathway, and then designing features that could help mitigate against car and rider interaction at those transition points. Cuffari says, “The Strava Metro data is helping local decision makers better understand the types of riders out there and their travel habits. The data has the direct potential to affect legislative changes such as speed limits and urban planning zoning.”

In addition to recreational and training use, The Loop is also being utilized for utilitarian trips, such as commuting and providing safe routes to local elementary schools. The county is also exploring the socio-and-economic benefits of expanding access to The Loop for underserved areas with current limited recreational access, and demonstrating how it can bring value to nearby businesses. “We have seen major employers choose Pima County as their next building location just because they can offer direct Loop access to their employees,” stated Cuffari.

The county will continue to use and analyze Strava Metro data as it plans future expansions and makes decisions on how it should be managed.

More information about the Loop can be found at: https://webcms.pima.gov/government/the_loop/