A counter is a record on the map
The unit, where it is, and which trail it counts. The position is the thing that makes a reading mean something two years later.
Trail counters
Use data that lives with the trail
Counter readings usually end up in a spreadsheet named after the month somebody docked the unit. Here each counter is a record on the map, its readings belong to the trail it sits on, and the export is one click when a funder asks.
How it works
Dock the unit, upload the file, keep the numbers
No integration to configure and no gateway to buy. Dock your TRAFx counter, upload the data file its software saves, and the readings are attached to a place rather than to a filename.
Readings arrive by import
Dock the unit, save the data file from the TRAFx software, upload it. One file can carry several counters, and a counter it has not seen before is added for you.
Overlapping files are safe
Readings are keyed by counter and timestamp, so the same reading arriving twice is stored once. Dock and import as often as you like without inflating a number.
Each import says what it added
New readings reported separately from the running total, so you can see exactly what that file contributed rather than hoping.
The shape of use, not just a total
Hour by hour, day by day and week by week, against the previous period or last year. The pattern that tells you which trail justifies the machine time.
A report for the funder, a CSV for the analyst
A PDF of the counter's page with your name and logo on it for a grant application or a board pack, and the raw readings as CSV for whoever wants to do their own sums.
Every counter, one list
Each unit with its trail, a month of daily counts at a glance, its battery and how long since somebody docked it. The ones that want a visit are one tap away, with the reason on the row.
- Batteries before they die Low and flat packs are colored on the row, so the spare goes in the truck on the trip that is already happening.
- Docks that are overdue A counter nobody has read for a couple of weeks says so, before its memory fills.
Why it matters
The number that ends arguments
Counter data is rarely the interesting part of a trail program and is regularly the deciding part of a funding conversation.
Evidence
Use, attached to a place
A count on its own is a number. A count against a named trail, with the trail's own condition history and maintenance record beside it, is an argument — for the resurfacing, for the second trailhead, or for leaving the quiet loop alone.
- On the trail, not in a folder The counter, its readings and the trail are one thing to open.
- Beside the work What that trail cost to maintain sits next to how many people used it.
- Kept across seasons Year-on-year is the comparison that persuades. The year to date is drawn against last year on the same date, so the growth is a number you can quote.
- When people actually ride Passes by hour and weekday, so a dig day or a closure can be planned around the quiet hours.
The counter you already own
Dock, upload, read
No gateway to buy and no second subscription. Dock the TRAFx counter you already have, upload the file its software saves, and the numbers land on the trail they belong to, ready to read by the day, the week or the month.
- Nothing to install on the trail Beyond the counter itself. No gateway, no repeater, no cellular plan for a box in the woods.
- Upload as often as you dock Overlapping files are safe, and each import says what it added.
- The data stays yours Everything you put in comes back out as CSV, whenever a funder, a board or a spreadsheet asks.
Other counters
Using a different brand of counter?
If your organization uses a different brand of trail counter, contact us and we'll be happy to get it working. Tell us the make and send a sample of the file its software exports.
Getting started
One counter, one import
The whole loop takes an afternoon, and the second one takes ten minutes.
01
Add the unit
Type, name and position on the map, against the trail it counts.
02
Dock and save the file
From the TRAFx software, whatever range it gives you.
03
Upload the file
Counters → Import. Duplicate readings are dropped, and the summary tells you what was new.
04
Read and export
Totals, hours and seasons on the counter's page, a PDF or a CSV when somebody asks for it.
Put your use data where the trail is
Start free, add your first counter, and stop hunting for last season's export when the grant deadline arrives.