For this purpose, this pole with solar panels is located on the Zegwaartseweg

For years now, there has been a gray pole with a solar panel and a white box at the top of the intersection between Zegwaartseweg and Kangaroopad. Some kind of rings are visible in the asphalt, but do they have anything to do with that pole? nearby is looking into it.

We also see similar poles in other places in the city, such as on the Godfried Bomanspad behind the Stadshart, and on the Nootdorpsepad along the A12. These are so-called bicycle counting points. But why should cyclists be counted?

Twenty-four hours a day

Metropolitan Region Rotterdam The Hague (MRDH) monitors the use of 93 cycle paths in our city and in the region. They do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means that all cyclists in both directions are constantly counted.

Measuring trends

The reason MRDH does this is that they use this data to measure bicycle use and trends. Our city and region have a bicycle policy that may be adjusted based on the results. In some locations they have been measuring for more than ten years. This creates a better picture of bicycle use.

It also provides insight into future traffic and transport flows and they share the information with the National Road Traffic Data Portal (NDW). And that is useful for getting a better picture of bicycle use throughout the Netherlands!

Loops and white boxes

And do those rings in the road surface have anything to do with it? According to MRDH, the measurement uses counting loops that are milled into the road surface. Those loops count your bike ride when you drive over the pressure sensors in the road. The white box then registers the data from the counting loops. The solar panel ensures that the white box receives power.

Check it out yourself

Do you want to know how many cyclists use the Zegwaartseweg every day? You can request this information yourself via the open data portal Dexter of the NDW. And now don’t be silly, and drive over those loops several times, eh? You sabotage the numbers.

Also spotted a mystery?

Another mystery solved! Do you also have a question about Zoetermeer? indebuurt is looking into it! Mail your mystery to [email protected].