Abstract:
The Indianapolis Cultural Trail was designed to be an urban trail
that could connect residents and visitors to the downtown cultural
districts while providing a network that could encourage
healthy activity, public engagement, and promote the walkability
of the city. To evaluate the usage and understand the trail’s
potential capability, counting devices were placed at two locations
along the trail, at Alabama Street and on the Glick Peace
Walk, for a three-week observation period during the Super
Bowl. During the three-week observation period, the Alabama
Street location recorded over 11,600 usage counts while the
Glick Peace Walk location recorded nearly 4,000.
The data indicate that large downtown events can boost
trail usage. Super Bowl weekend (Friday, February 3 through
Sunday, February 5) resulted in increased trail usage at both
locations. At the Alabama Street location, of the 11,649 total
user counts, nearly one-third (30 percent) occurred during
Super Bowl weekend. Equally impressive, the Super Bowl weekend
counts at the Peace Walk accounted for nearly one-fourth
(24 percent) of the total 3,870 user counts.
