The Jogging Jeweler

|The Old Croton Aqueduct Usage - Part 2 |

Now that we're buried beneath snow and ice, my recent run on an atypically warm March day seems like ages ago - ice ages! Sun warming my face, I passed more pedestrians that day than typical of recent runs and that got me wondering - How many people use the OCA and why do they use it? And so - began the tally of pedestrians and the types of pedestrians encountered. 

Pedestrian Categories:

1. Students - Any school age-looking child wearing a book bag
2. Dog Walkers - Pedestrian walking any number of dogs
3. Dogs - Canine users of the OCA
4. Runners - Running pedestrians 
5. Walkers - Walking pedestrians w/o a dog, not wearing a book bag
6. Cyclists - Person on a bicycle
7. Strollers - Child riding in a stroller; the pusher was counted in Walkers
8. With Child - Times an adult and child(ren) walking was encountered

Why tally users?

Knowing how many people use the OCA is important because it allows me, as well as the broader community who read this blog, to give the OCA a matter of importance. A tally clearly defines how much of our local population use this State Park. For example - if while running on the OCA I hardly saw any pedestrians, the matter of importance that this trail blazing through our villages without crosswalks would be none. However, on a day Spring would call mild, an *estimated 75 pedestrians were encountered during a 4.5 mile run is significant. If asked post-run how many other people I had encountered, my guess-timate would have been 25  - which is way off! 

This way when we get the opportunity to raise our concerns that we want more from the OCA and it's crossings in our villages we have a few facts of how many people use it. It makes us as a collective of concern citizens look larger, coordinated & organized,  and not to mention thoughtful.

What does the tally tell us?

1. Students - DFHS, Mercy, Dows Lane, Irv Main St School, IHS, Masters - that's a lot of school age children using the OCA, most likely on a daily/regular basis - not-so-great considering how few crosswalks it has.
2. Dog Walkers - Perhaps daily users?
3. Dogs - Perhaps daily users?
4. Runners - Most likely using during decent weather, non-mud/snow/ice days
5. Walkers - Highest tallied category, outside of students
6. Cyclists - Cyclists most likely traveling further distances on OCA
7. Strollers - 1 with a runner, 2 with walkers - The OCA is a great mom-life hack - you can get exercise, get out of the house if your child won't nap, contain your child if you need to make a phone call, and/or multi-task exercise, Vitamin D, relaxation, and snack time all-in-one.
8. With Child - Mostly adults with children wearing book bags, exception of 1 nanny chasing two toddlers

Stay tuned!! When The OCA User Survey is complete we can compare the tally with the survey results. And going forward we will see how the tally results change in the coming months of Spring and Summer!!