v>EPA
United States EPA/600/R-20/325
Environmental Protection January 2021
Agency www.epa.gov/ord
How to Quantify Coastal
Recreation in an Estuary
Methods for estimating the number of participants
and value of recreation for coastal access points
Marisa Mazzotta, Nathanial Merrill, Kate Mulvaney,
Sarina Atkinson, Josh Sawyer, Tracey Dalton
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling
Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division
Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882
Office of Research and Development
CEMM | Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division
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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA/600/R-20/325
January 2021
www.epa.gov/ord
How to Quantify Coastal Recreation
in an Estuary
Methods for estimating the number of participants
and value of recreation for coastal access points
Marisa Mazzotta1, Nathaniel Merrill1, Kate Mulvaney1,
Sarina Atkinson2, Josh Sawyer3, Tracey Dalton4
1 U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling,
Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, Narragansett, Rhode Island
2 former student contractor, U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental
Measurement and Modeling, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, Narragansett, Rhode Island,
currently University of Miami, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies,
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, Florida
3 former ORISE Fellow, U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental
Measurement and Modeling Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, Narragansett, Rhode Island
4 University of Rhode Island, Department of Marine Affairs, Kingston, Rhode Island
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling
Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division
Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Key Points
• This report presents tested methods that can be applied relatively easily and quickly using onsite
observations to estimate total daily visitation to coastal access points for which daily counts are not
generally taken.
• These methods can be used at both small and larger water access points common to estuaries and
other coastal areas and can account for various uses at these locations.
• These methods do not require interrupting recreators with surveys.
• We provide instructions to waik the user through the methods step-by-step, illustrated with
example applications to the Three Bays estuary system on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and to selected
sites around Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
• Along with this report are data sheets for recording observations and spreadsheets to compile data
and apply the models to estimate total visits from counts of cars and people at public access points.
Both the data sheets and spreadsheets can also be recreated easily.
• We include functions for estimating economic values, in dollar terms, for beach use. They can be
used to estimate the value of the total use, or of lost use, of coastal areas from events such as a
beach closure.
Acknowledgments and Disclaimer
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views
or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Any mention of trade names, products or
services does not imply an endorsement by the U.S. Government or the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. The EPA does not endorse any commercial products, services, or enterprises. This contribution
is identified by tracking number ORD-038594 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of
Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Atlantic Coastal
Environmental Sciences Division. We would like to thank Katherine Canfield, Giancarlo Cicchetti,
Justin Bousquin, Robert Griffin, and Peter Freeman for their thoughtful reviews.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Key Points ii
Acknowledgments and Disclaimer ii
Figures iv
Tables iv
Definitions v
I. Introduction 1
Why quantify coastal recreation? 2
II. Methods........ 3
Overview of the methods 3
Approaches to estimate the number of people using coastal access points 4
Derivation of extrapolation factors 6
III. The Process 9
IV. How to Estimate and Apply a Value Per Day for Beach Visits 29
V. Conclusions and Caveats - How to Use Your Results 31
VI. References 33
Appendix A - Extrapolation factors from Three Bays, Barnstable, MA 35
Appendix B - Counting zone map examples 36
Appendix C - Calculations 40
Continuous counts ....40
Periodic counts 40
Extrapolation factors 40
Estimating total visits per day when counting from 9:00am - 4:00pm or from 12:00pm - 4:00pm .... 41
Estimates of visits per month and season 41
Appendix D - Data sheets ....42
Appendix E - Screenshots from Narragansett Bay periodic count data entry 64
Appendix F - Screenshots from Narragansett Bay four-hour counts 69
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Figures
Figure 1. The methods described in this report allow for estimating total daily visitation
to a coastal recreational site using extrapolation factors and periodic counts 4
Figure 2. Illustration of the three approaches 6
Figure 3. Stock of recreational users 7
Figure 4. Hourly extrapolation factors for Three Bays 8
Figure 5. The four stages of implementation 10
Figure 6. Map of Three Bays and the 11 public access points used in this study 11
Figure 7. Screenshot of periodic car count data entry sheet with example data 17
Figure 8. Screenshot of the first page of continuous and hourly car count data entry sheet 20
Figure 9. Screenshot of continuous people count data sheet 21
Figure 10.Screenshot of hourly people count data sheet 22
Figure 11.Screenshot of the excel blank data entry sheet for single periodic counts 23
Figure 12. Map of Narragansett Bay and the 16 public access points included in the
University of Rhode Island study 25
Figure 13.Sampling plan entry sheet showing Narragansett Bay example 26
Figure 14.Sampling plans table, showing Narragansett Bay example 27
Figure 15. Buttons to generate data entry forms and to refresh calculations 27
Tables
Table 1. List of provided templates, spreadsheets, and worksheets within spreadsheets 15
The suggested citation for this report is:
Mazzotta M, Merrill N, Mulvaney K, Atkinson S, Sawyer J, Dalton T. 2021. How to Quantify Coastal
Recreation in an Estuary: Methods for estimating the number of participants and value of recreation for
coastal access points. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development,
Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division
Narragansett, Rl. EPA/600/R-20/325.
IV
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Definitions
All defined terms are italicized in their first use within the text of this report.
Benefit transfer - the use of existing estimates of non-market values from one or more studies to
estimate a value for a location or locations other than the original study sites.
Cars - any passenger vehicles parked at a site.
Consumer surplus - also referred to as "net willingness-to-pay." This is the amount someone would be
willing to pay above and beyond any amount actually spent for the good or service (such as an entrance
or parking fee to visit a beach). Economists use consumer surplus to evaluate social benefits in benefit-
cost analysis.
Continuous count - a count of all people and/or cars arriving to and/or leaving a site over a period of
time (e.g., afternoon hours between 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm or from sunrise to sunset) in order to get the
total arrivals and departures for that time period.
Direct economic contribution or impact - the money spent in a specified region on purchases and trip
expenses related to particular activities in that region.
Economic benefit or value - when measured in monetary terms, is the amount of money that an
individual is willing to give up, to obtain a particular good or service.
Extrapolation factor - Sometimes referred to as "turnover factor", this is the ratio of the total cars or
people present at a site over the course of a day to the total cars or people present at a particular time
(the stock, see below). The extrapolation factor for people or cars for a given time is multiplied by the
periodic count (snapshot at a particular time) of people or cars at that time to estimate visitors for the
whole day.
Non-market value - the value people place on goods and services that are not directly bought and sold
in markets, including many ecosystem goods and services. In the context of this report, visiting a
recreation site provides a non-market value. Non-market values are a type of economic benefit or
value.
Periodic count - a count of people and/or cars at a specific time during the day to provide a snapshot of
the number of visitors.
Representative sample - a selection of days and times designed to accurately reflect visitation for a
larger window of time, e.g. a month or season.
Sample - a selection of days and time windows in which people and/or car counts are conducted.
Stock - the number of people and/or cars present at a point in time. The stock for a specific time is
calculated as total arrivals minus total departures up to that point in the day. Stock estimates can be
compiled more simply by using periodic counts at given times.
Definitions
M
V
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Stock curve - a graph of the stock of people and/or cars at a location over the course of a day,
estimated from counts of arrivals and departures, or estimated using periodic counts throughout
the day.
Stratified sample - A selection of days and time windows chosen to measure visitation across an
attribute of the day or time. You might design multiple representative samples for types of days
(weekends and weekdays), for example.
Trip - a visit to the coast to engage in recreation that can be a single day, part of a day, or multiple days
in duration.
Trip expenses or expenditures - the total amount spent during a recreation trip that is related to the
recreation activity or activities (such as transportation costs, food, lodging, entrance fees, etc.).
Visitation (daily) - the total number of people throughout a day who engaged in coastal recreation in
a specified geographic area (e.g., a beach or coastal access point).
Visitation (seasonal) - the total number of daily visits throughout a season in a specified geographic
area (individual people may be counted more than once).
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V A i
VI
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
I. Introduction
Estuaries support many recreational opportunities for both residents and visitors. Coastal recreation provides
significant economic impacts and economic value1 to states and communities (for a review, see Pendleton
2008). In 2012, nearly 49 million people participated in ocean recreation in the United States, with over
1.2 billion days spent on ocean recreation (Kosaka and Steinback 2018). The economic impacts from total
equipment and trip expenditures for these activities were more than $141 billion, supporting 3.1 million jobs
and contributing $225 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) (Kosaka and Steinback 2018).
In addition to these economic impacts in the form of direct expenditures, economic values for coastal
resources—the value to people above what they actually pay to enjoy a resource—are important. Many
coastal recreational activities are free or have minimal access fees, yet are still valuable, providing economic
value in the form of non-market values to society. Non-market values can be difficult to measure, often
requiring surveys and other costly research. Understanding the aggregate non-market value of coastal
recreation requires estimating two components of value: (i) visitation and (ii) the value per person per visit.
Non-market values may be applied to estimate benefits from existing resources, such as the value of a beach
day; or to estimate benefits or costs from a change in a resource, such as the value of reducing the number of
days with swimming advisories or closures (Lyon et al. 2018).
As described above, in order to estimate non-market values, researchers and managers must know the
visitation to a site or area. Understanding visitation is also important in contexts other than measuring
economic values. Communities may want to know how many people are using their coastal access points in
1 All italicized terms are technical language explained in the Definitions section at the beginning of this report. Technical
terms are italicized upon their first use in the report.
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
order to better understand demand for coastal access, provide public
services, plan for infrastructure needs, and more.
Many coastal recreation managers lack the capacity to collect and
maintain accurate daily visitation records. In this report, we present
three different methods that managers can use to estimate the
number of people who visit coastal locations for recreation. These
methods require minimal investment of time and money while
providing estimates sufficiently accurate for most management
purposes. We demonstrate use of the methods through examples
from the Three Bays estuary system in Barnstable, Massachusetts
(Cape Cod) and locations on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
Why quantify coastal recreation?
Actions to reduce water quality
impairments can be expensive and
difficult to implement. Understanding
the number of people who use
estuaries provides important
information to decision makers
regarding how many people are
affected by poor water quality and
could benefit from improvements.
Despite its utility, there is very little
information available about the number
of visitors to estuaries because of the
complexity of applying the traditional
methods used to calculate visitation.
In response, we sought to develop
methods to more simply estimate
visitation to these areas.
In making decisions about management or justifying programs
it is often useful for communities, states, or regions to quantify
recreational uses of coastal areas and the value of those uses to the
public. Understanding the number of visitors and their values for coastal recreation can be important in many
management or policy contexts. These include understanding the benefits of improving water quality or
other environmental improvements, protecting or supplying additional public access points, understanding
the extent of tourism in an area, making decisions about investments in infrastructure or amenities at access
points, assessing damages from environmental incidents, and others.
While estuaries are likely to have high levels of recreational use (Mulvaney et al. 2019), they are also less
likely to have visitation data. In fact, combined total visitation at the small access points in an estuary may be
equivalent to or higher than at nearby large coastal beaches. Visits to estuaries often represent different
types of users and uses (Mulvaney et al. 2019). Some of the larger access points where parking fees are
collected, primarily beaches and parks, may use collected fees to approximate visitation. However, visitation
estimated from daily fees may not include residents with season passes or those who visit outside of normal
operating hours. Therefore, daily use counts that rely on collected fees generally underestimate total
visitation. Smaller access points, many of which are in estuaries where environmental quality tends to be
more of an issue and which may be more used by underserved populations, rarely collect fees and typically
lack other visitation measures.
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Methods
li. Methods
Overview of the methods
• In this report we present three ways to estimate visitation to coastal access points that use observational
approaches and do not require surveys of visitors.
• The methods are not intended to be precise, but to give "ballpark" estimates with minimal investment of
time and money, and with only basic expertise,
• The accuracy of the methods, when applied to locations outside of our study area, will vary depending on
how similar the new locations are to those in our study and how much effort is applied to collecting site-
specific data. Accuracy of the methods presented here compared favorably to that of more time-
consuming and complicated approaches.
• Each of the methods provides estimated visitation for a single day or set of days for specific sites. These
estimates are snapshots in time for the days when counts are conducted, based on conditions at each
location on those days (e.g., weather, day of week, time of season). The number of visitors can be tracked
over time and across conditions using multiple counts. The counts can also serve as a baseline for
evaluating the impacts of a discrete event, like beach closures, fish kills or oil spills, that may disrupt
visitation.
• We provide additional methods that use those days' data to estimate visitation to sites for a complete
week, month, or season. These longer-term estimates will be more accurate if more daily counts, across
more conditions, are included.
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Approaches to estimate the number of people using coastal access points
Based on our studies for Three Bays and Narragansett Bay, we present three ways to estimate visitation. They
vary in the amount of time and effort needed to compile information and the resulting accuracy of estimates.
The core element in all three approaches is the application of extrapolation factors to periodic counts of
vehicles or people at an access point a certain time, in order to estimate total visitors to that place over an
entire day. Multiplying the periodic count by the extrapolation factor gives an estimate of total daily
visitation. Figure 1 illustrates this process, whereby all-day counts plus periodic counts are used to calculate
extrapolation factors. These factors are then applied to new periodic counts to estimate visitation for a
different day or location.
The three approaches to calculate and use extrapolation factors are shown in Figure 2 as boxes and vertical
arrows. Approach 1 uses periodic counts multiplied by existing extrapolation factors (such as those from our
study - provided in Appendix A) to estimate total daily visits for a different day or site. Approach 2 uses a
four-hour continuous count to adjust existing extrapolation factors; these adjusted extrapolation factors are
then applied to periodic counts to estimate total daily visits. Approach 3 uses all-day counts to calculate new
location-specific extrapolation factors, which can then be applied to periodic counts to estimate total daily
visits for days when all-day counts were not conducted. The horizontal arrows at the bottom of the figure
illustrate that site-specific accuracy increases with the time and effort invested to implement the more
complex approaches. See Mulvaney et al. (2019) for details of the derivation of the methods underlying these
approaches.
All Day Counts
r«wr
~
M
New Periodic Car
Count (1PM) ^
Extrapolation factor
(1PM)
v r»wr r«wr
m
Total Daily
Visitation r*
Figure 1. Estimating daily visitation using extrapolation factors and periodic counts. The methods
described in this report allow for estimating total daily visitation to a coastal recreational site using
4
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II. Methods MSr
extrapolation factors and periodic counts. The extrapolation factors are developed from all-day and
periodic counts - shown in the upper blue-outlined box. (We provide these from our study, or you can
calculate your own). These extrapolation factors (the lower blue-shaded box) are applied to new
periodic counts (the lower orange-shaded box) to estimate total visits for the day at a site (lower green-
shaded box).
Approach 1 - single periodic count(s). To estimate daily visitation at a site, the simplest approach is to take a
single periodic count at the site, at a particular point in time, and multiply by the associated extrapolation
factor provided in this guide (Appendix A). We calculated these extrapolation factors based on our all-day
and periodic counts for Three Bays from the summer of 2017. The primary goal of this guide is to enable
practitioners to use this approach. Approaches 2 and 3 are designed to tailor the extrapolation factors to
specific sites for future uses of Approach 1. We provide an example of Approach 1 that applies our
extrapolation factors to counts taken by University of Rhode Island researchers in the summer of 2018 at 16
locations in Narragansett Bay. This approach has the lowest site-specific accuracy but is the fastest and
easiest to implement. It is most appropriate for locations and contexts where a very quick and easy estimate
is needed.
Approach 2 - four-hour continuous count plus periodic counts. The second, slightly more complicated,
approach adapts the Three Bays extrapolation factors to a different area by conducting continuous counts
of cars and people over a four-hour window of time during the day (from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm). These new
continuous counts are used to develop adjusted extrapolation factors, which are then applied to periodic
counts to estimate all-day visitation for other days and/or sites. For our study, we conducted four-hour
continuous counts at several public access sites within Narragansett Bay and used these to adjust the
extrapolation factors we found in Three Bays. We demonstrate how to do a similar study for your area.
This approach increases accuracy by tailoring the estimates to be more appropriate for your estuary and
is still relatively easy to implement. It is most appropriate when you want to use a fairly quick and easy
approach but want to better capture local conditions.
Approach 3 - all-day continuous count plus periodic counts. The third and most time-consuming approach
is to replicate the study methods used in Three Bays by conducting both all-day and periodic counts of people
and cars to calculate your own extrapolation factors. Although this approach requires more time and people,
it is also the most accurate as the factors that influence visitation are likely to vary depending on the type of
access and characteristics of the surrounding area. This approach is most appropriate when you want
estimates specific to your estuary and have the staff and time to carry it out.
Below, we describe how to apply each of these approaches, illustrated with examples from our work. We also
explain how to use the Excel spreadsheets and data collection forms that accompany this report to collect
and enter your data and calculate total visitors.
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Visitation Estimation Methods
Figure 2. illustration of the three approaches. The three approaches to calculate and use extrapolation
factors are shown as boxes and vertical arrows. Approach 1 uses periodic counts multiplied by existing
extrapolation factors (such as those from our study - provided in Appendix A) to estimate total daily visits for
a different day or site. Approach 2 uses four-hour continuous counts to adjust existing extrapolation factors;
these adjusted extrapolation factors are applied to periodic counts to estimate total daily visits. Approach 3
uses all-day counts to calculate new location-specific extrapolation factors, which can then be applied to
periodic counts to estimate total daily visits for days when ail-day counts were not conducted. The horizontal
arrows at the bottom of the figure illustrate that site-specific accuracy increases with the time and effort
invested to implement the more complex approaches.
Derivation of extrapolation factors
The simplicity of the three approaches described here depends on extrapolation factors to convert periodic
counts to all day counts, as described above. These are sometimes referred to in the literature as "turnover
factors" (King and McGregor 2012). Multiplying the number of people or vehicles from a periodic count
by the extrapolation factor gives an estimate of the total number of people who visit in a day (Figure 1).
Extrapolation factors vary by hour of day, based on how use is typically distributed over the course of the day
and how long people tend to stay on site. During the day, people arrive and depart at different times,
resulting in a stock of people on site at any given time that would be counted in a periodic count. Typically,
the number of visitors increases over time up to a maximum during peak hours (early afternoon for most
sites), and then decreases later in the day, as illustrated in Figure 3 (see Mulvaney et al. 2019).
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Methods
it
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Example - Using the extrapolation factors that we present in Figure 4, if 26 cars are counted
at 4:00pm, we would estimate a total of 275 visitors for the whole day (26 * 10.57). We have
automated these processes in a spreadsheet that accompanies this report. We found that
this extrapolation method is more accurate when periodic counts are taken during the peak
afternoon hours (12:00pm to 4:00pm), because, for most locations, these hours capture a
larger proportion of a day's visitors. This is illustrated in the graph in Figure 4, where the
lower extrapolation factors have the tightest confidence intervals.
Hourly Extrapolation Factors (Cars to People)
a>
CL
o
ID
CL
80
60
U 40
E
3
20
30.42
24.64
18.50
20.78
14.56
19.02
11.78
10.57
13.34
12.55
10.32
10.85
12.64 15.99
15.77
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
<4-
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. The Process
itU
Researchers set up for a day of counting at one of the Three Bays sites
II!. The Process
Here, we walk through the four-stage process for applying each of the three approaches (Figure 2) to estimate
visitation to a particular location. The approach you select will depend on the level of accuracy you want your
estimate to achieve for your specific sites, as well as the time and personnel available to collect data.
Additionally, depending on the complexity of counting people or cars at a site, a particular approach may be
more feasible than others. These considerations, along with the objectives of your study and how you wish
to use the results, will help determine the appropriate approach to use. The calculation steps and equations for
each approach are included in Appendix C.
We have broken down the process into four stages (Figure 5) and provide you with examples and with
materials for getting started.
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
• Select site(s) to evaluate
• Compile characteristics
of site(s)
• Delineate zones for
counting
Stage 2.
Establish a
sampling plan
and plan
sampling
logistics
•Based on study goals,
select method
•For each site, decide on
days and hours of counting
•Plan and specify other
counting logistics
• Implement sampling
plan
• Fill in data sheets for
each site, day of
counting and type of
count
• Enter data into Excel
worksheets
• Calculate summary
statistics and display
results
Figure 5. The four stages of implementation.
Stage 1. Determine your study area and compile initial data
Select access point(s) to evaluate. First, determine site(s) for which you want to estimate visitation based
on the objectives of your study. Ideally, each site will be easy to delineate from the surrounding area,
provide public access to the water, and provide at least some parking.
Example - In our Three Bays study, we wanted to estimate recreational use for all public access
to the Three Bays estuary system over the course of the summer season. Three Bays is a
1,251-acre (1.95 square miles) estuary system comprising three connected, primary bays
(Cotuit Bay, West Bay, and North Bay), along with several smaller sub-estuaries. To begin, we
defined all public access points that were feasible to count in the system. Conducting counts at
some access points was not feasible. For example, there was a town-recognized public access
bulkhead that was next to two different private marinas. At this location, it wouid have been
difficult to distinguish between public and private use. At a few other access points, signs were
posted indicating coastal access, but the town did not maintain access, people were not
informed of its existence, and getting into the water at those sites would have been difficult.
These locations were not included in our study. The final set of access points we chose to
observe included 11 public access sites around the estuary (Figure 6).
10
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. The Process
(/>
> _
CAPE COD
Mean Estimated
Weekend Day Visitation*
to Public Access Points
Prince Cove
Boat Ramp
All boating
Shellfishing/fishing
Spending time by the shore
Other (including walking)
Total Visitation
to the estuary
i
scale:
130
visits
>
CM
5
>
co
I
>
CM
to
n Cordwood Road
1 Landing
PI Bay Street
Boat Ramp
I Little River Road
Landing
LITTLE ISLAND
I
Bridge Street
Boat Ramp
Ropes Beach
! Hooper's
Boat Ramp
Oyster Place
Town Dock
STERVILLE
GRAND
ISLAND
>
f-
>
to
Cross Street
Beach
VMPSONS
ISLAND
Sea View Avenue
Way to Water
Loop Beach
'estimated visitation for an average weekend day in the summer, calculated using car counts and broken down by type of
activity based on results from all-day observations
Figure 6. Map of Three Bays and the 11 public access points used in this study. Each access point is
described by type (i.e., boat ramp, beach, dock, landing, or way to water), number of available parking
spots, and estimated recreational use for an average weekend day broken up by types of activities.
• Compile general characteristics of the access point(s). Important site characteristics include the specific
location, type of access point (beach, boat ramp, dock, landing, etc.), who has access (resident only or
general public), parking availability, size of the access point, and the number of entrances to the site.
These characteristics help assess the feasibility of the site for counting, and the number of people who will
be needed for the counting. For example, if the access point has multiple entrances more observers may be
11
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
needed in order to count at each entrance. General characteristics of the sites can be compiled using online
maps, local knowledge, site visits, and more.
Example - For Three Bays, there were three beaches, four boat ramps, two sandy landings,
one town dock, and one end-of-the-road way to water (Figure 6). These were accessible to the
public, but parking was by resident sticker only. All sites had at least three parking spots
available for residents and only one entrance.
• Delineate zones for counting and specify counting procedures. For each site, you need to determine who
counts as a visitor to that site. To do this, you should establish and map the spatial zones that represent the
site prior to conducting the counts. These zones will depend on the layout of the site and should demarcate
the parking area(s) associated with the site and the area that encompasses the recreational site itself. This
takes a degree of judgement, but mapping with clearly demarcated lines provides a way to distinguish a
recreational user in a consistent way and allows the various counts to be consistent across observers and
days. See Appendix B for examples of zone maps. All team members should be briefed on the research plan
and procedures prior to setup at the site, including how and when to count a person or car as "in" the site
and the bounds of the sites. You should specify rules for whom to count, including whether cars are
counted if no one gets out of the car, whether people who walk through the site will be counted, and so on.
These should be decided based on best professional judgment. It may be helpful to do a test run with
multiple counters to assure that people are counting consistently.
Example - In our Three Bays study, we delineated zones at each of the access points for
counting people and cars (Appendix B shows examples for 2 different sites). We used aerial
photo maps overlaid with lines delineating the zones. Observers were provided with these
maps. Once a vehicle or person entered the site boundary, that vehicle or person was counted.
Stage 2. Establish a sampling plan and plan sampling logistics. A sampling plan consists of deciding when to
count at each of your selected site(s). The appropriate sampling plan will vary based on your goal.
Daily visitation to access point(s). Depending on which approach you use (1, 2, or 3), the sampling plan can be
as simple as deciding when and how long you need to be at each site, given the available resources. This will
depend on how many observers you have, as well as transportation abilities. A team with a minimum of two or
three people at a site works best for all three approaches. Sites with multiple entry points may require more
than one team. The more people on your team, the more locations you can cover in a day or the more breaks
team members can take.
Approach 1- single periodic count(s): Approach 1 is designed for sampling many sites quickly, since all that
is needed is a single count of how many cars are present in the defined zone(s). For most sites where, peak
use tends to occur in the early afternoon, periodic counts are most accurate when conducted between
12:00 pm and 4:00 pm (times of higher use). Whether counting at one or many sites, plan for the
observations to occur during these peak use times. A roaming observer may be able to sample many sites
around an estuary in a single afternoon, providing daily visitation estimates for many sites or an entire
12
-------
. The Process
estuary. If you are estimating visits for sites with atypical visitation hours (for example, some fishing sites),
you will want to consider using Approach 3 to estimate extrapolation factors that are more appropriate to
these sites, and then conducting periodic counts at the times of highest use.
Approach 2 - four-hour continuous count plus periodic counts: This approach requires observers to spend
four hours at each site on each sampling day, in order to collect data to adjust the provided extrapolation
factors. Again, we suggest counting during peak hours, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Because the observers must
be onsite for multiple hours each team of two or three people can only cover one location in a day of
sampling. The main sampling decision is figuring out which sites and which days you need counts. The
number of sites and days that can be included will depend on available people and transportation. Since
these four-hour continuous counts are conducted to make the extrapolation factors more site-specific, we
suggest taking these continuous counts more than once per site or type of site; and across weekend days,
weekdays, and different weather conditions. The more counts you can do on the various types of days,
the better. This will provide a more representative sample of visitation through time. See the "Monthly
or seasonal visitation" below for more advice on how to sample depending on the needs of the study.
Approach 3 - all-day continuous count plus periodic counts: This approach requires counting each site for
the entire day, either from sunrise to sunset or for the portion of the day for which you wish to estimate
visitation. The same team size limitation applies as in Approach 2; each team of observers can only sample
one location in a day. In fact, with the longer sampling day, it is advisable to have the teams switch off
midday or switch locations, making for a more pleasant day and more alert observers. As with Approach 2,
all-day counts should be conducted multiple times across various types of days.
13
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Monthly or seasonal visitation. When the goal of the study is to estimate visitation for more than simply the
days when counts are taken, such as for a month or season, the sampling plan becomes important. In practice,
given available resources and people, you will need to select a representative sample of days for counting.
By sampling days that represent the various types of days that make up the month or season, you can better
extrapolate to these longer time periods. Given that visitation will vary with weather, day of week, and month
it is important to develop a sampling plan prior to counting, in order to develop an unbiased estimate.
You can't just assume every day is 80 degrees and sunny! To do this, you select a stratified sample of days.
Example - Monthly Visitation: You want to estimate visitation for the month of July and
have resources for six sampling days for the site of interest:
• Days in the month consist of weekend days and holidays (9) and weekdays (22) and you want a
representative count of each type of day. Create two lists: (1) all the weekend and holiday days and
(2) all the weekdays. Randomly pick 3 weekend/ holiday days and 3 weekdays before the month starts.
The random selection of days will allow for variations in weather. You can use Excel's random number
generator or print/write out the days and select them randomly from each of the 2 sets of days.
• Conduct your counts on those selected days, rain or shine.
• Average the counts for each type of day (weekend/holiday, weekday) from your 3 counts of each.
• Multiply the average for weekdays by 22 (number of weekdays in the month) and the average for
weekends/holidays by 9 (number of weekend/holiday days in the month). Sum the two totals to
estimate visitation for the whole month.
Accuracy of the estimate will increase with more sampling days and thus more observations. In the example,
we considered two day types - weekends/holidays and weekdays, but one could stratify across days of the
week (Monday, Tuesday ), or treat holiday days differently, or include other factors that might be important
to variations in visits. However, each additional factor would increase the required number of sampling days.
All sampling plans are a tradeoff between accuracy (more counts) and effort.
To estimate visitation for a whole season, the same concept of the stratified sample holds. First, create a list
of the types of days and months in the season. The groups might be weekends/holidays in June, July, and
August; weekdays in June, July, and August; and so on for additional months. The plan would be to sample
days randomly within each of these groups in order to be able to estimate season totals using the number
of each type of days and the average count for each.
Example - Seasonal Visitation: In our Three Bays study, we conducted all-day counts (Approach 3) on
seven days during the summer of 2017 (June-August), sampling two or three sites on each of the seven
days. To capture a representative sample of summer use, we stratified our random sampling days across
weekdays and weekends and across each type of day in each month. We counted visitors on at least two
days in each month. For each sample day, we randomly selected sites by access point type (beach, boat
use, and landing or way to water) to ensure there were at least two different types of access sampled on
any given date. Over the course of the season we conducted an all-day count at each site at least once.
This sampling plan ensured we captured a range of weather, time of the season, and type of access. At
each site we had two or three researchers conducting the all-day count, while two others moved among
all the sites and conducted periodic counts throughout the day (Approach 1) (Mulvaney et al. 2019).
14
-------
. The Process
These more complicated sampling design steps are optional, needed only if you are counting over multiple
days in a season with the objective of using those daily counts to estimate total visits for the month or season.
If that type of seasonal visitation is of interest, see Leggett (2017) and Mulvaney et al. (2019) for more
information and examples on developing a sampling plan and randomizing across space and time.
Stage 3. Gather the necessary data. The data you collect will depend on which of the three approaches
you have selected. We have provided printable templates to assist in collecting data necessary for estimating
total visitation to your recreation area, and Excel spreadsheets for aggregating all collected data and calculating
extrapolation factors and summaries. Table 1 lists the available templates and spreadsheets. The spreadsheets
were developed with Microsoft Office 365, and are programmed with macros to enable variations in number of
sites, number of days, and other factors. In the event that the spreadsheet macros do not function for you, you
can use the example spreadsheets for Narragansett Bay as guides and apply the equations in Appendix C to
perform your own calculations.
Table 1. List of provided templates, spreadsheets, and worksheets within spreadsheets
File Name
Description
Field Data Sheets, docx
File that includes templates for printable data forms to fill out
when counting (Stage 3).
Includes sheets for:
• Periodic Car Counts
• Continuous & Hourly Car Counts
Note: these sheets are also found in
Appendix D of this document
• Continuous People Counts
• Hourly People Counts
• Site Conditions
Periodic Count data entry.xlsm
Macro-enabled spreadsheet for data entry and calculations
(Stage 4) using Approach 1 - single periodic counts.
Includes worksheets:
• DataEntry - sheet to enter data collected in Stage 3
• Results - sheet that displays calculated estimates of total
visits in various ways
• StartHere and Resultslnfo - informational sheets to
explain how things work
• EstimatedDailyVisits and admin -sheets that contain data
for calculations and the calculations. Keep these sheets
locked and do not edit sunless you want to change
formulas or data used in the calculations.
Periodic Count data entry NarrBay.xIsm
A copy of the periodic count data entry spreadsheet filled in
with the Narragansett Bay data, to use as an example.
Continuous count data entry.xlsm
Macro-enabled spreadsheet for data entry and calculations
(Stage 4) using Approaches 2 and 3 - continuous plus periodic
counts.
Includes worksheets:
15
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
File Name Description
• SamplingPlan - sheet to enter parameters of the sampling
plan (sites, site types, activities, dates)
• IncomingCount - sheet to enter continuous counts for
each site and date
• TopOfHourCount - sheet to enter hourly periodic counts
for each site and date
• Statistics - displays statistics describing the entered data
• ExtrapolationFactors - summary of extrapolation factors
calculated from entered data
• Admin -sheet that contains data for calculations. Do not
edit this sheet directly. It contains data from the
underlying study and data populated from entries on the
other sheets.
Continuous count data entry NarrBay.xIsm A copy of the continuous count data entry spreadsheet filled
in with the Narragansett Bay data, to use as an example.
WTP tool for beaches.xlsx Spreadsheet containing a tool to estimate non-market
economic value per day for beach visits, for different regions
of the U.S.
Includes worksheets:
• Valuation Tool - sheet to enter parameters for valuation
and display results
• Admin -sheet that contains calculations. Keep this sheet
locked to avoid changing underlying data from the
valuation model.
Approach 1 - single periodic count(s)
This approach uses the data sheet for "Periodic Car Counts" in Field Data Sheets.docx (Figure 7; Appendix
D). At your selected site(s) count vehicles within the parking zone(s) you delineated in Stage 1. To improve
accuracy of applying extrapolation factors, it is generally best to count during the hours of 12:00 pm to
4:00 pm. On the data sheet, first enter observer name(s).
Then, for each count, enter:
1. Site name and type
(example of site types are beach, boat ramp, landing, park, fishing access, wharf way to water)
2. Date of count
3. Time of count
4. Number of vehicles counted within the designated zone(s)
5. Whether the lot is full
(this is not used in the calculations, but can be useful information to determine capacity of a site)
6. Additional comments
(for example, unusual events taking place at the site or unusual conditions)
16
-------
. The Process
itU
The bottom of each sheet has spaces for entering the name or initials of the person entering the data, the
date entered, and the data sheet number. These will be filled in when you enter the data.
EXAMPLE: Periodic Car Counts observer Nametsi J. Doe
Site Name and Site Type
Date
Time
# Cars
Lot Full?
Additional Comments
Name
E. Cireenwtck
7/2.5'/18
1:00 pm
7
Yes ^o)
Type
Boat ramp
Name
Oakland Beach
7/25/18
Z.OO pm
3 O
Yes /(no)
Type
Beach
Name
B. Tuft Park
8/14/18
1:00 pm
8
Yes ^No^
Type
Park
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Data entered by: Date entered: Data sheet #
Figure 7. Periodic car counts data sheet with example data.
Approaches 2 and 3 - four-hour or all-day continuous count plus periodic count(s):
At your selected site(s) and on your selected sampling day(s) count cars and people entering the site
during each half hour time period (continuous car counts, continuous people counts), as well as total cars
and people at the site at the beginning of each hour in the designated zone (hourly car counts, hourly
people counts).2 To facilitate counting, we have provided three printable templates (found in Field Data
Sheets.docx) and also in Appendix D - one for both continuous and hourly car counts (Figure 8), one for
continuous people counts (Figure 9), and one for hourly people counts (Figure 10).
2 Iri our Three Bays study, we counted both entries to and exits from the site, in order to calculate the stock in the
traditional way (as the difference between cumulative entries and exits at each point in time - Figure 3). In this guide,
we have simplified the method to only count entries to a site, using hourly periodic counts to estimate the stock at the
beginning of each hour.
17
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
For continuous and hourly car counts (using data sheet "Continuous and Hourly Car Counts" - Figure 8;
Appendix D), enter:
1. Site name
2. Date
3. Observer name(s)
4. Start time of counting that day
5. Number of vehicles on site within delineated zone at start of counting
6. Number of vehicles that enter the delineated zone during each 30-minute time period
7. Total vehicles on site at the beginning of each hour
8. End time of counting that day
For continuous people counts (using data sheet "Continuous People Counts" - Figure 9; Appendix D),
enter:
1. Site name
2. Date
3. Observer name(s)
4. Start time of counting that day
5. Number of people on site within the delineated zone(s) at start of counting
6. Number of people that enter the delineated zone(s) during each 30-minute time period. This may
be entered either as a single tally for all activities or as separate tallies for up to 8 activities.
We suggest assigning each person an activity based on the initial activity observed, since people
may engage in multiple activities during a single visit. If counting at multiple sites, use the same
set of activities for each site (although some sites may not support every activity). This will allow
for a summary by activity. Note that it may be difficult to assign people to activities, either due to
the configuration of the site (not being able to see where people go once they enter) or because
it is a particularly busy site. You may want to consider other approaches to assigning activities
based on your needs and the conditions at your sites.
7. End time of counting that day
For hourly people counts (using data sheet "Hourly People Counts" - Figure 10; Appendix D), enter:
1. Site name
2. Date
3. Observer name(s)
4. Start time of counting that day
5. Number of people on site within the delineated counting zone(s) at start of counting
6. Number of people on site within the delineated counting zone(s) at the beginning of each hour
7. End time of counting that day
The bottom of each worksheet has spaces for entering the name or initials of the person entering the data, the
date entered, and the data sheet number. These will be filled in as part of stage 4.
18
-------
III. The Process MSr
For all three approaches, it can be useful to collect additional data, including site attributes and weather.
We have not incorporated this information into the methods presented here, but it can be used in various
ways. Qualitatively, data on site attributes and weather can be used to paint a more complete picture of the
results. Quantitatively, it might be used in more complex models to predict visitation by day type and weather
(see, for example, Lyon et al. 2018). We have included a data sheet for collecting site data ("Site Conditions
Data Sheet" in the Field Data Sheets.docx file and also in Appendix D). On this sheet, enter:
1. Site name
2. Date
3. Observer name(s)
4. Site conditions - conditions on shore, including amount of trash and litter and algae (seaweed)
on the shore
5. Comments on site conditions, including any signs posted (such as use restrictions, warnings,
closures, etc.), and other notable site conditions (such as heavy erosion, difficult access, etc.)
6. Water conditions - assessment of water quality and listed aspects of water quality - check appropriate
level for each
7. Comments on water conditions
8. Weather conditions (cloud cover; precipitation; wind speed and direction; other comments)
You may want to modify this sheet to fit the particular data collection needs of your project. For example,
there may be other site conditions, such as wave height or shoreline erosion, that would be useful to collect.
You also may want to collect data on site amenities (restrooms, etc.) and their condition.
19
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Example
Continuous and Hourly Car Counts
Date: 7/J2C/AE
Observer Name(s); J. Doe
Site: N.K. Town
Beach
Start Count Time: kiOOn,
Number of cars at start:
-------
IN. The Process
Example
Continuous People Counts Date-. 7/2.0/1&
Observer Namd si: J Doe Site: Town Beach
Start Count Time: noon Number of people at start: 7S End Count Time: 4:OOpw\
Activity
11:00-11:29
AM
11:30-11:59
AM
12:00-12:29 PM
11:30-12:59 PM
1:00-129 PM
1:30-1:59 PM
Chilling
mmrn
m
mmm
mm ii ii
ttf
1
tit
mm
11
Kayak/SUP/
Rowing
i
Fishing frowi
shore
Fishing from,
boat
Boating
Walk-by
NOTE: The example shows only a portion of the day.
Data entered by: Dateente»eu: Datasheet#
Figure 9. Continuous people counts data sheet with example data.
-------
How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Example
Hourly People Counts Date: 7/2Q/1-S
Observer Name(s): J- Pp6 Srte: NK Town Beach
Start Count Time: noo«. Number of people at start: 73 End Count Time: 4:00pm
5.-00 AM
6:00 AM
7:00 AM
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12 Noon
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
-------
. The Process
If you would like to change the default number of people per car, enter it here:
Enter People per Car (default = 1.67):
Example Entry:
Number of
Date (m/d/yy)
Site Name
Site type:
Time
Cars
6/4/17
Bay St.
Boat Ramp
8-9 AM
2
6/5/17
Loop Beach
Beach
11-12 AM
10
7/9/17
Bay St.
Boat Ramp
1-2 PM
5
Enter your car count data below. When you are ready to view results, click the "Refresh Results" button above.
The "Time" column uses a drop-down list - click on the cell to acess the drop-down.
Data Entry Table (rows will be added automatically as you enter data)
Time (Click
dropdown on
Number of
Date (m/d/yy)
Site Name
Site type:
cell)
Cars
Refresh Results
Figure 11. Screenshot of the excel blank data entry sheet for single periodic counts.
For each periodic count, you will enter:
1. Date of count (m/d/yy)
2. Site name (be sure spelling is consistent for multiple entries at the same site)
3. Site type (e.g., beach, boat ramp, landing, way to water, park, etc. - be sure spelling is consistent for
multiple entries for the same site type)
4. Time block of periodic count. These are presented as a dropdown menu of hourlong blocks, from
5:00am to 9:00pm. Click on the cell to access the dropdown menu and click the down arrow to select a
time period. If your count was taken on the hour, select the time period starting with that hour (for
example, for 1:00 pm, select the 1-2 pm time period).
5. Number of cars observed
6. If you observe that there are more or fewer people per car than our default value of 1.67, enter your
value for people per car in the box above the data entry table.
When you are done entering data, click the "Refresh Results" button, located above the data entry table
(Figure E-l). The spreadsheet will then calculate estimated visits for each day and location in which a count
was taken. The "Results" worksheet provides a printable summary report of the estimates that can be
filtered in different ways. An example using the URI Narragansett Bay data is shown in Appendix E. It
includes:
• Filters that you can turn on and off to view results by day type (weekday, weekend), day of week,
month, site type, and site name (Figure E-2)
• Graphs of average daily visits: total, day type, month, site type, day of week, and site by month
(Figures E-3,4)
23
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
• An approximate estimate of total seasonal visits (for June, July, and August) for each of the sites
included in your counts. This is calculated by multiplying the number of weekdays and weekend days by
the relevant average visits per weekday and weekend day, and summing over the season (Figure E-4).
• An estimate of total visits across all sites for the season
• A summary table of the data entered and estimated visits (Figure E-5)
Example: During the summer of 2018, researchers from the University of Rhode Island (URI)
conducted intercept surveys at 16 coastal access points around Narragansett Bay (Figure 12;
Rl EPSCoR 2020). While conducting these surveys, they took periodic counts of people and cars
at each location, with most locations sampled on more than one day. Using the URI data for
16 sites, with counts taken on one to four days for each site, we entered the car counts into
our Periodic Count spreadsheet. The spreadsheet applies our extrapolation factors from the
Three Bays study to estimate each site's total daily visits for each day and provides an estimate
of seasonal visitation for all sites. Because the URI data indicate a slightly higher number of
people per car, we adjusted the extrapolation factors to use this number when generating the
visitation estimates. Screenshots of the data entry and results are included in Appendix E,
and the spreadsheet is available along with this report.
24
-------
IN. The Process
Ottawa
Toronto
{ Boston
~
Philadelphia
Washington
India Point Park#
Beach Road Extension^
Passeonkquis Cove Fishing Access#
Barrington Town Beach^
Conimicut Point#
Rocky Point State Park
Oakland Beach# # #
^ Bristol Town Beach
Barbara Tuft Park^#
# Goddard State Park
East Greenwich Town Overlook and Boat Ramp
North Kingston Town Beach#
Easton's Beach (First Beach}#
Fort Adams State Park#
Brent on Point State Park#
Narragansett Town Beach#
10
I I Miles
Figure 12. Map of Narragansett Bay and the 16 public access points included in the University
of Rhode Island Study.
-------
How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Approaches 2 and 3 - Four-hour or all-day continuous count plus periodic count(s):
"Continuous Count data entry.xlsm"
Begin by entering your sampling plan in the "SamplingPlan" worksheet. This will populate the data entry
sheets with the required number of spaces.
First, in the "Step 1" section of the sheet (Figure 13), you will enter:
1. Site types (up to 6)
2. Activities monitored, if you would like to count by activity (up to 8); if not, simply enter a single
activity name, such as "all"
3. Site names
4. Sampling dates (m/d/yy)
A
B
C
D
3
4
Step 1: Start by entering parameters for sampling below:
5
Enter distinct types of sites:
Enter dates that sampling occurs:
6
Site Types (up to 6}
Sampling Dates (m/d/y)
7
park
7/18/2018
8
fishing access
7/20/2018
9
beach
8/2/2018
10
11
12
13
14
Enter activities monitored:
15
Activities (up to 8)
16
chilling
J
17
kayak/SUP/rowing
18
other boating
19
fishing from shore
20
fishing from boat
21
walk-by
22
other
23
24
25
Enter site names:
26
Site Names
27
Salter Grove SP
28
Passeonkquis Cove
29
NKTown Beach
30
Fort Adams Beach
31
Oakland Beach
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
3Q
Figure 13. Sampling plan entry sheet showing Narragansett Bay example.
26
-------
. The Process
itU
Next, scroll to the right to the "Step 2" section (Figure 14), and use the dropdown menus to populate each
individual sampling plan (combination of site and date). These dropdowns will be populated with the data
entered in Step 1.
E
F
G
H
1
i J ,
l<
Step 2: Use the drop-down lists to enter your sampling plans below:
To add a new row, enter the next consecutive number under "Sample Plan #"
Sample Plan #
Site Name
Site Type
Sampling Date
Sampling Window
1
Salter Grove SP
park
7/18/2018 12:00PM - 4:00PM
2
Passeonkquis Cove
fishing access
7/18/2018 12:00PM - 4:00PM
3
NK Town Beach
beach
7/20/2018 12:00PM - 4:00PM
4
Fort Adams Beach
beach
7/20/2018 12:00PM - 4:00PM
5
Oakland Beach
beach
8/2/2018 12:00PM - 4:00PM
A
Figure 14. Sampling plans table, showing Narragansett Bay example.
Finally, scroll to the right again to Step 3 (Figure 15), and click the "Generate Entry Forms" box to generate
the data entry sheets for your sampling plan.
JCj
L
M
N
0
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
Step 3: Click on the "Generate Entry Forms
* button, to populate the data entry sheets.
Next, go to the IncomingCount and TopOfHourCount sheets to enter your counts.
Generate Entry Forms
Final Step: After entering data
in the IncomingCount and TopOfHourCount sheets, click the "Refresh Calculations" button below to recalculate.
Now, go to the Statistics sheet to view site and overall statistics or to ExtrapolationFactors
to get the extrapolation factors calculated using your data.
Refresh Calculations
Figure 15. Buttons to generate data entry forms and to refresh calculations.
Next, in the "IncomingCount" sheet, enter the starting count of people (by activity or just the total) and
cars (total), as well as the counts for each 30-minute time period during your sampling window.
In the "TopOfHourCount" sheet, enter the hourly counts of people and cars for each site for your sampling
window.
The "Statistics" page summarizes results and the "ExtrapolationFactors" page calculates your custom
hourly extrapolation factors from your counts. These extrapolation factors can then be substituted for our
default factors to use to estimate daily visits from periodic counts in your area.
27
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Example: During the summer of 2018, we conducted four-hour counts (12:00pm to 4:00pm)
at five sites around Narragansett Bay, on one day for each site. These five sites are a subset of
the 16 locations used in the URI periodic count study described above. We entered these
counts into our Continuous Count spreadsheet and calculated new extrapolation factors.
Compared to the Three Bays factors, our Narragansett Bay factors are about 1.5 times larger.
This is due to generally faster turnover of people and cars at the locations included (people
didn't tend to stay as long, which means each person counted will translate to more visitors
per day). However, the rates of turnover vary across sites, and our sample of sites and days is
very small for Approach 2 in Narragansett Bay, so we present this example as an illustration
only. While the higher turnover may legitimately increase the extrapolation factors, we do not
consider the results to be sufficiently accurate to draw conclusion because of the small sample
of locations and days. Therefore, we recommend using a larger sample of sites and days when
applying Approach 2. These results are included in Appendix F, and the spreadsheet is available
with this report.
28
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Iv. How to Estimate and Apply a Value Per Day for Beach Visits
IV. How to Estimate and Apply a Value Per Day for Beach Visits
As we discussed at the outset, understanding the
aggregate non-market value of coastal recreation
requires estimating both the number of people
affected and the value per person. The bulk of this
report has focused on estimating the number of
people - visitation, This section describes how to
calculate the non-market value of a beach visit for
your location based on estimates from a meta-
analysis model that we developed (Lyon et al. 2018).
The model included values from 25 studies, obtained
from the Recreation Use Values Database (RUVD),
a database of studies of recreational values
(Rosenberger 2016). Consumer surplus values—the
measure of people's willingness to pay above and
beyond what they actually pay—are presented as
value per day in 2016 dollars. The study locations
include both freshwater and saltwater beaches. In
addition to variables included in the RUVD for study
characteristics, location characteristics, and visitor
characteristics, we added two variables obtained
from other sources. Variables for length of beach and
whether the beach was closed at all during the
previous five years (2011-2015; U.S. Census Bureau,
U.S. EPA BEACON database) serve as indicators of
beach quality and water quality.
This model can only be used for beach visits
(for example, trips to the shoreline for
swimming/wading, playing on the sand,
walks on the beach, and more). We did not
estimate values for other types of coastal
recreation (recreational fishing, boating,
birding, etc.), though there are models
available to obtain values per day for various
types of recreation in the Benefit Transfer
Toolkit, available at
https://sciencebase.usgs.gov/benefit-
transfer/. On this site, you can find
information on economic values for many
types of outdoor recreation. It includes
databases of existing valuation estimates,
a map of study locations for recreational
values, a set of statistical models for
estimating values for several types of
outdoor recreation, average values by region
for many types of outdoor recreation, and
other related information.
29
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
The model can be used to predict the value of a beach visit for a location by applying the policy-relevant
parameters for that location to the model results (benefit transfer; Johnston et al. 2015, Richardson et al.
2015, Wilson and Hoehn 2006).
This model is included in the Excel spreadsheet "WTP tool for beaches.xlsx" that accompanies this report. It
included default values for the model parameters based on averages from the studies included in the meta-
analysis. If you have information specific to your location, you may enter the following beach and trip
parameters:
• Saltwater or freshwater beach
• Region of the United States
• Whether you want to value day trips or overnight trips
• The percent of visitors who are residents versus non-residents/visitors
• Beach length in miles
• Whether the beach has been closed due to water quality issues in the past five years
• The daily parking/entrance fees per person if you would like to include impacts of lost revenues when
evaluating beach closures
Once you enter the parameters, the spreadsheet will calculate a value per person per day in 2016 dollars.
Example: In Lyon et al. (2018), we used the meta-analysis model to estimate consumer
surplus per day of a saltwater beach visit for a New England beach that has experienced
closures in the past five years as $21.99. A beach visit to a New England beach without a
history of closures is worth $47.58 per person per day, indicating a large value to people for
beaches without closures.
The value per person per day may then be applied to the number of visitors to get an aggregate value per day
for a site. This is calculated in the spreadsheet, along with a lost use value for a beach closure day. The lost
value due to closure assumes that 67 percent fewer people go to the beach when there is a swimming
advisory (based on Lyon et al. 2018). The user can change this assumption in the tool based on local behavior,
if known. The total lost value due to a closure includes the loss of revenue for parking fees (if entered) as well
as lost consumer surplus for that day (see Lyon et al. 2018 for more details).
Beyond parking revenues, beaches provide other market values in the form of money spent by visitors in the
local economy in conjunction with their beach visit. We do not provide methods for estimating these market
values, beyond the parking fees collected. NOAA has reports, tutorials and guides to collecting market values
(see https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/topics/economy.html for NOAA's resources.)
30
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v. Conclusions and Caveats - How to Use Your Results
itU
V. Conclusions and Caveats - How to Use Your Results
In this report, we presented three approaches to estimate visitation to coastal access sites, using
observations of visitors—single periodic counts, or periodic counts combined with four-hour or all-day
continuous counts. We also presented a tool to estimate the dollar value (consumer surplus) of a beach day
based on a meta-analysis of existing values from the literature.
Inaccuracy in estimating visitation is a limitation of all approaches commonly used for this purpose (King and
McGregor 2012, Wallmo 2003), including ours. We designed our processes to be, at a minimum, unbiased,
meaning not consistently over- or under-counting the visitation metric of interest. We validated the more
complicated approach (Approach 3) described here in our Three Bays study against counts we took all day.
In that study, we applied our extrapolation factors created over seven days of sampling for 11 sites (Approach
3) to periodic counts taken for those same sites and days (Approach 1) and compared the predicted visitation
to the actual all-day counts. We found that our estimates had low bias and a mean absolute percent error
of 44% and a root-mean-squared error of 14.4 people per site per day. This means that estimates using our
extrapolation factors applied to single periodic counts were, on average, 44% above or below the true total
visitation for the day. The accuracy in terms of number of people estimated as compared to actual counts
depends on the size of the site. We have no data related to nighttime visitation, and therefore have not
provided approaches for estimating nighttime visitation in this report, though the approaches presented here
can be replicated for sites where nighttime use is important.
For future application of our methods, the exact accuracy would be known only with a complementary
validation study of the type presented in Mulvaney et al. (2019), which is beyond the scope of most practical
applications. We highlight the accuracy of our application to be transparent about the level of uncertainty in
estimates derived from our methods. Visitation estimates from any method show considerable uncertainty
but provide valuable and otherwise unknown information on visitation to water access sites and estuaries in
general. For most applications, the accuracy is sufficient given the alternative is no information on visitation
at all.
31
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
These methods of estimating visitation allow the user to better understand the scale of recreational use of
individual sites and of entire estuaries. This information is often missing when assessing the potential
beneficiaries of environmental protection (or potential losers to environmental degradation). For example,
our Three Bays work found that, although sites within the estuary were small, in total they represented about
the same scale of visitation as a nearby major town beach. The ongoing efforts on Cape Cod to improve
estuary water quality affect a significant number of people that were until recently uncounted.
While our study was aimed at understanding the value of coastal access to the public and highlighting how
many people benefit from programs to provide access and protect environmental quality at access points,
resource managers can use visitation information in many other ways. Visitation estimates are essential for
economic valuation of water quality and other environmental amenities using benefit transfer and are
typically the most critical missing piece in these studies. They may serve as a baseline for future natural
resource damage assessments, such as those baselines that were missing before the Deepwater Horizon
incident (Tourangeau et al. 2017, Horsch et al. 2017); or for smaller discrete events, such as closures resulting
from pollution or other events. They can help to assess current and future infrastructure and staffing needs,
provide information on patterns and types of use in different locations, indicate where adding or improving
access may be most beneficial, inform environmental justice efforts by highlighting the locations and use of
access points in proximity to underserved communities, or inspire public engagement in protecting or
improving access points and their surrounding areas.
While collecting good data for a specific application is helpful, having visitor use estimates taken and
recorded in a similar fashion over many locations would improve larger scale studies of natural resource use.
Parks and other inland natural attractions have created systems for estimating visitor totals. This report
provides a practical way for estuary and coastal areas to begin to be included in our understanding of the
scale of use and value for natural areas.
32
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vi. References
VI. References
Banzhaf S. 1996. Estimating Recreational Use Levels with Periodic Counts. Duke University and Triangle
Economics Research. TER Technical Working Paper No. T-9602.
Horsch E, Welsh M, Price J, Domanski A, Meade NF, Murray J. 2017. Best practices for collecting onsite data
to assess recreational use impacts from an oil spill. Available at:
ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/NOS/ORR/TM_NOS_ORR/TM_NOS-ORR_54.pdf,
accessed June 15, 2020.
Johnston RJ, RolfeJ, Rosenberger RS, Brouwer R. 2015. Benefit transfer of environmental and resource
values: A guide for researchers and practitioners. Dordrecht: Springer.
King P, McGregor A. 2012 Who's counting: An analysis of beach attendance estimates and methodologies
in southern California. Ocean & Coastal Management 58:17-25.
Kosaka R, Steinback S. 2018. 2012 National Ocean Recreation Expenditure Survey, National Report.
Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-185.
Leggett CG. 2017. Sampling strategies for on-site recreation counts. Journal of Survey Statistics and
Methodology 5:326-349.
Lyon, SF, Merrill, NH, Mulvaney KK, Mazzotta MJ. 2018. Valuing coastal beaches and closures using benefit
transfer: An application to Barnstable, Massachusetts. Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics 5 (1):
Article 1.
Mulvaney KK, Atkinson SF, Merrill NH, Twicheli JH, Mazzotta MJ. 2019. Quantifying recreational use of
an estuary: A case study of Three Bays, Cape Cod, USA. Estuaries and Coasts 43(l):7-22.
Pendleton L. 2008. The Economic and Market Value of America's Coasts and Estuaries: What's at Stake.
Washington, DC: Coastal Ocean Values Press.
J3
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Rl EPSCoR, The University of Rhode Island, https://web.uri.edu/rinsfepscor/research/. Accessed
February 27, 2020.
Richardson L, Loomis J, Kroeger T, Casey F. 2015. The role of benefit transfer in ecosystem service valuation.
Ecological Economics 115: 51-58.
Rosenberger RS. 2016. Recreation Use Values Database - Summary. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University,
College of Forestry, http://recvaluation.forestrv.oregonstate.edu/. Accessed February 18, 2020.
Tourangeau R, English E, McConnell KE, Chapman D, Cervantes IF, Horsch E, Meade N, Domanski A, Welsh M.
2017. The Gulf recreation study: assessing lost recreational trips from the 2010 Gulf oil spill. Journal of Survey
Statistics and Methodology 5(3):281-309.
U.S. Census Bureau. Explore Census Data, https://data.census.gov/cedsci/. accessed June 15, 2020.
U.S. EPA. Beach Advisory and Closing Online Notification (BEACON) 2.0.
https://watersgeo.epa.gov/beacon2/reports.html, accessed June 15, 2020.
Wallmo K. 2003. Assessment of Techniques for Estimating Beach Attendance. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Damage Assessment Center, Silver Spring, MD.
Wilson MA, Hoehn JP. 2006. Valuing environmental goods and services using benefit transfer: The state-of-
the-art and science. Ecological Economics 60: 335-342.
34
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Appendix A
Appendix A - Extrapolation factors from Three Bays, Barnstable, MA
Time Period
Extrapolation Factor
5:00 am - 6:00 am
23.35
6:00 am - 7:00 am
21.90
7:00 am - 8:00 am
19.81
8:00 am - 9:00 am
16.19
9:00 am - 10:00 am
13.16
10:00 am - 11:00 am
9.02
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
8.96
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
7.68
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
6.80
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
6.19
3:00 pm -4:00 pm
6.31
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
6.39
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
7.09
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
7.50
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
7.54
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
7.54
35
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Appendix B - Counting zone map examples
We defined zones to delineate the recreational use area and parking area(s) of each site. The
descriptions and aerial images for the sampled access points were established prior to counting
people or cars. Establishing these designated zones beforehand makes it easy to determine when a
vehicle or person should be considered as using the public access point rather than determining use
based on observed behavior alone. These zones are especially important when the site is busy, such
as at a larger beach. The defined zones also allow for greater consistency across observers because
the site is sampled the same way each time. To make these for your area, use screenshots taken
from mapping software with satellite images and overlay lines to mark zones that indicate where to
include a car or person in your counts.
Example #1
Loop Beach, Barnstable, MA
Counting people:
For a continuous count, record all the
people entering and leaving the beach by
crossing the yellow-dotted line. After
observing people at this access point, we
found that some people would walk onto
the beach from private property or access
the beach from the water. To clearly define
recreational users of Loop Beach, any
people who did not cross the yellow-dotted
line to get to the beach were not included
in the continuous count.
For a periodic count, include all people
within the red line. This includes people in
the parking lot, on the beach, and in the
water directly in front of the beach,
36
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Appendix B
Counting cars:
For a continuous count, include any cars that enter the main lot closest to the beach or park in a
designated space along the street. Arrivals are counted when either parked in a space or entering
the main lot by crossing the yellow-dotted line. Departures are counted when the parked cars along
the street leave or a vehicle exits the main lot by crossing the yellow-dotted line.
For a periodic count,
record all cars parked in
designated parking
spots along Oceanview
Avenue. Also count all
cars in the main parking
lot (these cars in the
main lot do not need to
be parked in a
designated spot).
Designated street
parking spots for
Loop's Beach
57
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Example #2
Little River Landing, Barnstable, MA
Counting people:
For a continuous count, record all the people entering and leaving the site by crossing the yellow-
dotted line. Because Little River Landing is at the end of the road, we observed many people walking
to the end of the road, turning around, and going back. These people are still included in the count,
which is why the demarcated yellow-dotted line is at the beginning of the road and not where the
road ends.
For a periodic count,
include all people within
the red line. For this
access point, we
excluded people working
on the oyster farm seen
in the water just outside
of the red line.
38
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Appendix B
itU
Counting cars:
For a continuous count, record ail cars that enter or exit the zone by crossing the yellow-dotted line.
For a periodic count,
record all cars in the
designated zone on
Belair Lane.
39
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Appendix C - Calculations
Continuous counts
Total visits for a site on a particular day are the sum of an initial count plus the sum of people counted
entering (or exiting) the site for the day:
T
Vd=Jo + YjJt
t=0
Where,
- total number of recreational users from all-day counts for sites i on day d
Jo~ the initial count of visitors upon arrival at the site
Jt-the count of recreational users entering at time t
and the hours of counting range from the starting time (£=0) to the ending time (£=T).
Counts of people may be separated by activity or summed over all activities. We determined activity by the
initial activity each person was observed to be doing.
Similarly, total cars entering the designated site parking area would be summed over the hours of counting.
For ease of keeping track of counts, tally the counts of both people and cars entering in 30-minute intervals.
We provide templates for counting people and cars in 30-minute increments.
Estimate people per car by dividing the total number of visitors by total cars for the day.
Periodic counts
At the beginning of each hour, count total people and cars at the site.
Q'd - the periodic count (of people or cars) at site i, for time tand day d
Extrapolation factors
First, for each site, day, and hour, calculate the inverse of the extrapolation factor, which is an estimate of the
probability of a person or car being counted at a particular time. This initial step is done in order to avoid
issues with times where the periodic count may be zero. This is calculated as:
ri
pi td
td ir[
vd
Next, calculate an average extrapolation factor for each hour by taking the inverse and average of all of these
estimates:
1
40
-------
Appendix C
Where,
Et - the extrapolation factor for hour t
nt - the number of observations made in hour t across all sites and days
Vd - total number of recreational users from all-day counts for sites i on days d
Cld - periodic count of cars or people for sites i on days d in hour t
To estimate the total visits for a full day using a periodic count, multiply the periodic count by the
extrapolation factor for the hour that the count was taken:
K= Et* C[d
Where,
Vd - estimated total recreational visitors for day d at site i
Estimating total visits per day when counting from 9:00am - 4:00pm or from
12:00pm-4:00pm
In our study of Three Bays, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, we counted from sunrise to sunset for some days and
sites, and from 9:00am to 4:00pm for some days and sites. From our all-day counts, we estimated that counts
from 9:00am to 4:00pm captured 60.45% of total cars for the day and 59.93% of total people for the day; and
counts from 12:00pm to 4:00pm captured 37.22% of total cars and 32.71% of total people.
If you do not count from sunrise to sunset, you can use these percentages to adjust your shorter counts to
reflect the entire day, by dividing your estimate by the appropriate percentage listed above. For example, if
you count 100 people between 9:00am and 4:00pm, divide by .5993 to estimate a total of 167 people for the
day. Similarly, if you count 100 people between 12:00pm and 4:00pm, divide by .3271 to estimate a total of
306 people for the day.
Estimates of visits per month and season
A rough estimate of total visitors for the season per site can be calculated as a weighted average of weekend
and weekday visitors. The accuracy of this estimate will increase as the number of days counted increases. In
the periodic count spreadsheet, we provide the simplest estimate:
S = wd* Vwd +we * Vwe
Where,
S - Seasonal visitation for a site
wd - # of weekdays in season
we- # of weekend days and holidays in season
Vwd- average count of visitors to the site on a weekday
Vwe - average count of visitors to the site on a weekend day or holiday
The spreadsheet will average total seasonal visits per site over all sites. To get a total for an estuary, you will
need to multiply this average by the number of sites in the estuary.
41
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Appendix D - Data sheets
The data sheets for counting and site conditions are included in this appendix.
42
-------
Periodic Car Counts Data Sheet
This document accompanies the EPA report: How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary: Methods for Estimating the Number
of Participants and Value of Recreation for Coastal Access Points. See the report for more details on applying the methods.
Use these sheets to record periodic vehicle counts at your selected site(s).
Instructions for Periodic Car Counts:
Print out the data sheets you will need for your purposes (based on number of sites, days, and people counting).
At each site, count the number of vehicles within your delineated parking zone(s). To improve accuracy of applying extrapolation
factors, it is generally best to count during the hours of 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm, since at many sites peak visitation occurs during these
hours. For sites where visits peak at different times of day, see the report for suggestions.
On the data sheet, first enter observer name(s).
Then, for each count, enter:
1) Site name and type (for example, beach, boat ramp, landing, park, fishing access, wharf, way to water)
2) Date of count
3) Time of count
4) Number of vehicles counted within the designated zone(s)
5) Whether the lot is full (this is not used in the calculations, but can be useful information to determine capacity of a site)
6) Additional comments (for example, unusual events or conditions at the site)
The bottom of each sheet has spaces for entering the name or initials of the person entering the data, the date entered, and the
data sheet number. These will be filled in when you enter the data.
The next page is an example.
-------
Example: Periodic Car Counts
Observer Name(s) J. Doe
Site Name and Site Type
Date
Time
#Cars
Lot Full?
Additional Comments
Name
E. Greenwich
7/25/12
1:00 pm
7
Yes
Type
Boat ramp
Name
Oakland Beach
7/25/12
2..00 pm
3 O
Yes ^No)
windy
Type
Beach
Name
B. Tuft Park
8/14/12
H--.00 pm
8
Yes /©
Type
Park
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Periodic Car Counts
Observer Name(s)
Site Name and Site Type
Date
Time
#Cars
Lot Full?
Additional Comments
Name
Type
Yes / No
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Data entered bv:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Periodic Car Counts
Observer Name(s)
Site Name and Site Type
Date
Time
#Cars
Lot Full?
Additional Comments
Name
Type
Yes / No
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Name
Yes / No
Type
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous and Hourly Car Counts Data Sheet
This document accompanies the EPA report: How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary:
Methods for Estimating the Number of Participants and Value of Recreation for Coastal Access
Points. See the report for more details on applying the methods.
Use these sheets to record continuous and "top of hour" vehicle counts at your selected site(s).
Instructions for Continuous and Hourly Car Counts:
Print out the sheets you will need for your purposes (based on number of sites, days, and people
counting).
On the data sheet, enter:
Site name
Date
Observer name(s)
Start time of counting that day
Number of vehicles on site within delineated zone at start of counting
Number of vehicles that enter the delineated zone during each 30-minute time period
Total vehicles on site at the beginning of each hour
End time of counting that day
Instructions for entering numbers of vehicles: Tally the number of vehicles entering the designated
zone for each 30-minute time period. To tally, indicates 5 vehicles. At the beginning of each
hour, count the total vehicles within the counting zone, and enter in the "top of hour count" box.
There are enough boxes to count continuously for any time period from 5am to 8pm.
The next page gives an example.
-------
Example
Continuous and Hourly Car Counts Date: 7/zo/xs
Observer Name(s): J. Doe Site: N.K. Town Beach
Start Count Time: noon Number of cars at start:
-------
Continuous and Hourly Car Counts
Observer Name(s): Site:
Date:
Start Count Time: Number of cars at start: End Count Time:
5:00-5:29 AM
5:30-5:59 AM
Top of hour count
6:00 AM
6:00-6:29 AM
6:30-6:59 AM
Top of hour count
7:00 AM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
# cars within zone:
7:00-7:29 AM
7:30-7:59 AM
Top of hour count
8:00 AM
8:00-8:29 AM
8:30-8:59 AM
Top of hour count
9:00 AM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
# cars within zone:
9:00-9:29 AM
9:30-9:59 AM
Top of hour count
10:00 AM
10:00-10:29
AM
10:30-10:59 AM
Top of hour count
11:00 AM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
# cars within zone:
11:00 -11:29
AM
11:30-11:59
AM
Top of hour count
12:00 PM
12:00 -12:29
PM
12:30-12:59 PM
Top of hour count
1:00 PM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
# cars within zone:
1:00-1:29 PM
1:30-1:59 PM
Top of hour count
2:00 PM
2:00-2:29 PM
2:30-2:59 PM
Top of hour count
3:00 PM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
# cars within zone:
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous and Hourly Car Counts
Observer Name(s): Site:
Date:
3:00-3:29 PM
3:30-3:59 PM
Top of hour count
4:00 PM
4:00-4:29 PM
4:30-4:59 PM
Top of hour count
5:00 PM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
# cars within zone:
5:00-5:29 PM
5:30-5:59 PM
Top of hour count
6:00 PM
6:00-6:29 PM
6:30-6:59 PM
Top of hour count
7:00 PM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
# cars within zone:
7:00-7:29 PM
7:30-7:59 PM
Top of hour count
8:00 PM
Cars
entering
zone
# cars within zone:
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous People Counts Data Sheet
This document accompanies the EPA report: How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary:
Methods for Estimating the Number of Participants and Value of Recreation for Coastal Access
Points. See the report for more details on applying the methods.
Use these sheets to record continuous people counts at your selected site(s). They are to be
used along with the Hourly People Counts sheets.
Instructions for Continuous People Counts:
Print out the pages you need, based on the hours of the day when you will be counting - one set of
pages for each site.
At each site, you will be counting the number of people entering your delineated counting zone(s).
On the worksheet, enter:
1) Site name
2) Date
3) Observer name(s)
4) Start time of counting that day
5) Number of people on site within delineated zone(s) at start of counting
6) Number of people that enter the delineated zone(s) during each 30-minute time period - either
as a single tally or separate tallies by activity (you must select one activity per person - we
recommend using the initial activity observed for each person)
7) End time of counting that day
The bottom of each sheet has spaces for entering the name or initials of the person entering
the data, the date entered, and the data sheet number. These will be filled in when you enter the
data.
Instructions for entering numbers of people: Tally the number of people entering the designated
zone(s) for each 30-minute time period. To tally, Hi indicates 5 people. At the beginning of
each hour, fill in the Hourly People Count sheet. There are enough boxes to count continuously for
any time period from 5am to 8pm.
The next page gives an example.
-------
Example
Continuous People Counts Date: 7/zo/xs
Observer Name(s): J. Doe Site: N.K. Town Beach
Start Count Time: noon Number of people at start: 7S End Count Time: 4-:OOpm
Activity
11:00-11:29 AM
11:30-11:59 AM
12:00-12:29 PM
12:30-12:59 PM
1:00-1:29 PM
1:30-1:59 PM
Chilling
*
mm*
mmnii
mm*
i
***
**
ll
Kayak/SUP/
Rowing
i
Fishing from
shore
Fishing from
boat
Boating
Walk-by
NOTE: The example shows only a portion of the day.
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous People Counts
Observer Name(s):
Site:
Date:
Start Count Time: Number of people at start: End Count Time:
Activity
5:00-5:29 AM
5:30-5:59 AM
6:00-6:29 AM
6:30-6:59 AM
7:00-7:29 AM
7:30-7:59 AM
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous People Counts
Observer Name(s):
Site:
Date:
Start Count Time: Number of people at start: End Count Time:
Activity
8:00-8:29 AM
8:30-8:59 AM
9:00-9:29 AM
9:30-9:59 AM
10:00-10:29 AM
10:30-10:59 AM
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous People Counts
Observer Name(s):
Site:
Date:
Start Count Time: Number of people at start: End Count Time:
Activity
11:00-11:29 AM
11:30-11:59 AM
12:00-12:29 PM
12:30-12:59 PM
1:00-1:29 PM
1:30-1:59 PM
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous People Counts
Observer Name(s):
Site:
Date:
Start Count Time: Number of people at start: End Count Time:
Activity
2:00-2:29 PM
2:30-2:59 PM
3:00-3:29 PM
3:30-3:59 PM
4:00-4:29 PM
4:30-4:59 PM
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Continuous People Counts
Observer Name(s):
Site:
Date:
Start Count Time: Number of people at start: End Count Time:
Activity
5:00-5:29 PM
5:30-5:59 PM
6:00-6:29 PM
6:30-6:59 PM
7:00-7:29 PM
7:30-8:00 PM
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Hourly People Counts Data Sheet
This document accompanies the EPA report: How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary:
Methods for Estimating the Number of Participants and Value of Recreation for Coastal Access
Points. See the report for more details on applying the methods.
Use these sheets to record hourly people counts at your selected site(s). They are to be used
along with the Continuous People Counts sheets.
Instructions for Hourly People Counts:
Print out the pages you need, based on the hours of the day when you will be counting - one set of
pages for each site.
At each site, you will be counting the number of people entering your delineated counting zone(s).
On the worksheet, enter:
1) Site name
2) Date
3) Observer name(s)
4) Start time of counting that day
5) Number of people on site within the delineated counting zone(s) at start of counting
6) Number of people on site within the delineated counting zone(s) at the beginning of each hour
7) End time of counting that day
The bottom of each sheet has spaces for entering the name or initials of the person entering the data,
the date entered, and the data sheet number. These will be filled in when you enter the data.
Instructions for entering numbers of people: Count and enter the number of people within the
designated zone(s) at the beginning of each hour. This sheet is to be filled out in conjunction with the
Continuous People Count sheet for each counting day at each site. There are enough boxes to count
continuously for any time period from 5am to 8pm.
The next page gives an example.
-------
Example
Hourly People Counts
Observer Name(s): J. Doe
Date: 7/ZO/X2
Site: NK Town Beach
Start Count Time: noon Number of people at start: 78 End Count Time: 4-:OOpm
5:00 AM
6:00 AM
7:00 AM
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12 Noon
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
93
29
xxo
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
7:00 PM
8:00 PM
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Hourly People Counts
Observer Name(s):
Site:
Date:
Start Count Time: Number of cars at start: End Count Time:
5:00 AM
6:00 AM
7:00 AM
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12 Noon
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
7:00 PM
8:00 PM
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Site Conditions Data Sheet
This document accompanies the EPA report: How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary:
Methods for estimating the number of participants and value of recreation for coastal access
points. See the report for more details on applying the methods.
Use these sheets to record conditions at your selected site(s).
Instructions for entering Site Conditions:
Print out the 2-page sheet for each site and day of sampling. At each site, you will be entering conditions
for a single day.
On the worksheet, enter:
1) Site name
2) Date
3) Observer name(s)
4) Site conditions - conditions on shore, including amount of trash and litter and algae (seaweed)
on the shore - circle appropriate measure
5) Comments on site conditions, including any signs posted (such as use restrictions, warnings,
closures, etc.), and other notable site conditions (such as heavy erosion, difficult access, etc.)
6) Water conditions - assessment of water quality and listed aspects of water quality - check
appropriate level for each
7) Comments on water conditions
8) Weather conditions
1) Amount of cloud cover - circle appropriate level in the column for the time recorded
2) Precipitation - circle appropriate level in the column for the time recorded
3) Wind speed - circle appropriate level in the column for the time recorded, and enter
estimate of wind speed
4) Wind direction - circle direction in the column for the time recorded
9) Comments on weather conditions
Note: The conditions listed on these sheets are those that we found to be useful for our work. You may
have alternative or additional interests based on how you plan to use the data. For example, you may
want to record wave height or note site amenities (restrooms, etc.) and their condition.
-------
Site Conditions Date:
Observer Name(s): Site:
Shore Conditions:
Attribute
1
2
3
4
5
Trash and litter
A lot
Some
None
Amount of algae on beach
A lot
Some
None
Comments on shore and overaii site conditions (posted warnings, closures, parking restrictions, or other
notable site conditions)
Water Conditions;
Worst possible quality: 7 Best possible quality:
may have bad odor, oil, II ^ 7 8 9 10 c|ear safe for a|j activities,
raw sewage, unhealthy OOOOOOOOOO never has closures, healthy
for plant and animal life. for plant and animal life.
Aspects
Worst
Quality
b
2
3
4
s
_1
7
8
9
10
Best
Quality
Don't
Know
Seaweed
Wide
spread
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
None
0
Algae/scum
Wide
spread
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Absent
0
Bacteria
Excessive
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Absent
0
Clarity of the water
Murky
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Clear
0
Mucky bottom
condition
Very
mucky
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Not at all
mucky
0
Oil or gas sheen
Common
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Rare
0
Smell/odor
Bad odor
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Fresh
0
Trash in water
Common
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Rare
0
Comments on water conditions
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
Site Conditions
Observer Name(s):
Site:
Date:
Weather Conditions:
Attribute
Morning (8AM-10AM)
Midday (10AM-2PM)
Afternoon (2PM-4PM)
Cloud Cover
None
None
None
25%
25%
25%
50%
50%
50%
100%
100%
100%
Rain
None
None
None
Drizzle
Drizzle
Drizzle
Light Rain
Light Rain
Light Rain
Rain
Rain
Rain
Downpour
Downpour
Downpour
Wind Speed
Calm
Calm
Calm
Light breeze
Light breeze
Light breeze
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Strong
Strong
Strong
Gale
Gale
Gale
Mph estimate
N
N
N
Wind Direction (direction from
which wind is blowing)
Nvy^^vNE
Nvy^^vNE
NVy^^yE
S
S
S
Comments on weather conditions
Data entered by:
Date entered:
Data sheet #
-------
How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Appendix E - Screenshots from Narragansett Bay periodic count
DATA ENTRY
Enter your car count data below. When you are ready to view results, click the "Refresh Results" button above.
The "Time" column uses a drop-down list - click on the ce
I to acess the drop-down.
Data Entry Table {rows will be added automatically as you enter data)
Date (m/d/yy)
Site Name
Site type:
Time (Click
dropdown on
cell)
Number of
Cars
7/2/18
E. Greenwich
boat ramp
1-2 PM
8
7/25/18
E. Greenwich
boat ramp
1-2 PM
7
8/15/18
E. Greenwich
boat ramp
8-9 AM
2
7/17/18
Goddard
park
10-11 AM
20
7/23/18
Goddard
park
2-3 PM
9
8/14/18
Goddard
park
8-9 AM
17
6/21/18
Salter
landing
1-2 PM
2
7/17/18
Salter
landing
8-9 AM
9
8/6/18
Salter
landing
1-2 PM
3
8/24/18
Salter
landing
8-9 AM
4
6/30/18
Barrington
beach
9-10 AM
20
7/5/18
Barrington
beach
9-10 AM
10
8/29/19
Barrington
beach
1-2 PM
30
7/15/18
Bristol
beach
1-2 PM
50
8/2/18
Bristol
beach
1-2 PM
50
6/23/18
Warren
beach
10-11 AM
3
7/11/18
Warren
beach
9-10 AM
20
7/15/18
Warren
beach
3-4 PM
40
8/2/18
Warren
beach
2-3 PM
25
7m/lR
RTi.ft
nar \r
1-? PM
1
Figure E-l: Portion of data entry sheet for Narragansett Bay 2018 periodic counts.
64
-------
Appendix E
Select parameters for your graphs here, by filtering for the options you want.
To remove filters, click the red x in the upper right corner of the appropriate box.
Day type
weekday
weekend
Day of Week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Month
June
July
August
Site type:
beach
boat ramp
fishing access
landing
park
path
wharf
Site Name
B Tuft
Barrington
Beach Rd
Brenton
Bristol
Conimicut
E. Greenwich
Eastons
Fort Adams
Goddard
India Pt
N Kingstown TB
Narragansett
Oakland
Passeonkquis
Rocky Point
Figure E-2: Filters for report results.
65
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Estimated Average Daily Visits for Sampled Days
Average Daily
Visits
250
150
100
TOTA1
Avg Daily Visits fay
Day Type
Average Daily Visits by Month
WEEKDAY WEEKEND
420
JUNE
JUUT
AUGUST
Avg Daily Visits by Month and Day Type
WEEKDAY
WEEKEND
JUNE
WEEKDAY WEEKEND
JULY
WEEKDAY WEEKEND
AUGUST
Figure E-3: Charts from results report.
66
-------
Appendix E
it
soo
500
400
300
200
100
0
Estimated Average Daily Visits for Sampled Days
Avg Daily Visits by Site Type
SQ9
Avg Daily Visits by Day Of Week
1363
Avg Daily Visits by Month and Site
2000
1000
BARRINGTON
c
r~
-<
>
fZ
o
c
3
BRISTOL
WARREN
EA3TONS tARRAGANSETTKINGSTQWN
Total estimated visits for the season (June, July, August) for all selected sites
using daily visits averaged over the selected sites:
46,012
Figure E-4: Charts from results report (filtered to show beaches only).
67
-------
How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Summary Table
Date (m/d/yy) Q Site Name 3 Site type: Q Year Q Month Q Day type Q Day of Week Q Estimated Visits £
7/2/1S E. Greenwich
boat ramp
2018 July
weekday
Monday
91
7/25/18 E. Greenwich
boat ramp
2018 July
weekday
Wednesday
79
8/15/1S E.Greenwich
boat ramp
2018 August
weekday
Wednesday
54
7/17/18 Goddard
park
2018 July
weekday
Tuesday
301
7/23/18 Goddard
park
2018 July
weekday
Monday
93
8/14/18 Goddard
park
2018 August
weekday
Tuesday
460
6/21/18 Salter
landing
2018 June
weekday
Thursday
23
7/17/18 Salter
landing
2018 July
weekday
Tuesday
243
8/6/18 Salter
landing
2018 August
weekday
Monday
34
8/24/18 Salter
landing
2018 August
weekday
Friday
108
6/30/18 Barrington
beach
2018 June
weekend
Saturday
440
7/5/18 Barrington
beach
2018 July
weekday
Thursday
220
8/29/19 Barrington
beach
2019 August
weekday
~hursday
341
7/15/18 Bristol
beach
2018 July
weekend
Sunday
563
8/2/18 Bristol
beach
2018 August
weekday
Thursday
568
6/23/18 Warren
beach
2018 June
weekend
Saturday
45
7/11/18 Warren
beach
2018 July
weekday
Wednesday
440
7/15/13 Warren
beach
2013 July
weekend
Sunday
421
8/2/18 Warren
beach
2018 August
weekday
Thursday
259
7/23/18 B Tuft
park
2013 July
weekday
Monday
11
8/14/18 BTuft
park
2018 August
weekday
Tuesday
91
6/20/18 Rocky Point
park
2018 June
weekday
Wednesday
341
8/14/18 Rocky Point
park
2018 August
weekday
Tuesday
297
8/19/18 Rocky Point
park
2018 August
weekend
Sunday
170
7/2/18 Oakland
beach
2013 July
weekday
Monday
421
7/25/18 Oakland
beach
2018 July
weekday
Wednesday
310
8/15/18 Oakland
beach
2013 August
weekday
Wednesday
330
8/14/19 Conimicut
park
2019 August
weekday
Wednesday
330
8/19/19 Conimicut
park
2019 August
weekday
Monday
1053
7/17/18 Passeonkquis
fishing access
2018 July
weekday
Tuesday
21
6/30/18 Fort Adams
park
2018 June
weekend
Saturday
257
7/5/18 Fort Adams
park
2013 July
weekday
Thursday
227
8/2/18 Fort Adams
park
2013 August
weekday
"Thursday
270
6/30/18 Brenton
park
2018 June
weekend
Saturday
414
7/5/18 Brenton
park
2018 July
weekday
"hursday
421
8/2/18 Brenton
park
2018 August
weekday
Thursday
220
8/18/18 Fastnns
hearh
?01R Aumist
weekend
Saturdav
797
Figure E-5: Summary table from results report.
68
-------
Appendix
F U
Appendix F - Screenshots from Narragansett Bay four-hour
counts
Observed Activities
I chilling
i kayak/SUP/rowing
: other boating
fishing from shore
I fishing from boat
I walk-by
I other
Figure F-l: Summary of observed activities.
People and Cars By Hour
12:00 PM
1:00 PM 2:00 PM 3:00 PM
> Average of Cars —^—Average of People
4:00 PM
Figure F-2: Average observed people and cars by hour.
69
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How to Quantify Coastal Recreation in an Estuary
Extrapolation Factors by Hour
60
AM AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM
Figure F-3: Extrapolation factors by hour.
Overall People Per Car
Total
People Per Car (Counted)
People Per Car (Estimated)
Total
1.50
1.71,
Figure F-4: Summary of people per car.
70
-------
Extrapolation Factors
Time Q Turnover Factor Q Extrapolation Factor
5:00 AM
0
#NUM!
6:00 AM
0
#NUM!
7:00 AM
0
#NUM!
8:00 AM
0
#NUM!
9:00 AM
0
#NUM!
10:00 AM
0
#NUM!
11:00 AM
0
#NUM!
12:00 PM
0.01958825
51.05101272
1:00 PM
0.081845857
12.21808936
2:00 PM
0.093105372
10.74051879
3:00 PM
0.087073652
11.48453031
4:00 PM
0.076029958
13.15271008
5:00 PM
0
#NUM!
6:00 PM
0
#NUM!
7:00 PM
0
#NUM!
8:00 PM
0
#NUM!
Figure F-5: Extrapolation factors for 4-hour counts.
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