Security cameras show visitor patterns

Posted: Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 07:09:02 pm PDT
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By RICK THOMAS
Staff writer 

JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Visitors to Silverwood Theme Park speed down the track of Timber Terror during a community event at the attraction May 9.

Nearly half of the traffic on Interstate 90 is visitors

COEUR d'ALENE -- They've got you coming and going.

The cameras installed along Interstate 90 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are precise enough to zoom in on a license plate and instantly transmit the number to police computers, which alert authorities if it is on a list of stolen or otherwise associated with some criminal activity. They have already resulted in several arrests.

It's not just those license plates on the alert list that are collected and stored, it's every single one that passes by the cameras, aimed east and west on I-90. Stored on CDs, the information is now being used to analyze traffic patterns.

And what it's shown is just how many visitors there are to Kootenai County.

"We've been doing traffic studies for years," said Jim Stravens, president of J.P. Stravens Planning Associates. "Before, we could just do the count."

What the latest study shows, through analysis of virtually every license plate that was recorded -- and there were plenty -- is that nearly half the traffic on Interstate 90 is visitors.

"We now have a picture of who's coming over and what they're doing," Stravens said. "We know where they are from, and the number of people."

Using data from studies he has done since 1996, Stravens added the more precise information from license plates to determine that 47 percent of traffic volume is visitors. That includes 48,300 people a day in 22,700 vehicles, on average. During summer the numbers increase, with the peak volume in August increasing by 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles per day over January. That translates to 8.3 million trips with two or more people each year.

It also demonstrates that Kootenai County's fastest growing economic growth segment is tourism and non-resident leisure travel, Stravens concludes.

Using national surveys and his own data, he also says that increased gas prices and air travel costs will mean shorter trips, and that more visitors will come from Canada, Washington and Idaho.

While total trips are down 5 percent this year, leisure travel is holding steady, Stravens says. Fuel costs, weather and economic slowing are the cause of the decrease, Stravens reports.

"However, it can be expected that non-resident leisure travel will continue to increase throughout the summer during the summer months," he wrote in the report, "Travel & Tourism in Kootenai County, Idaho, 2008."

Because 23 percent of the traffic recorded is one-way only, the total impact of those travelers is uncertain. But by comparing the inbound to outbound plates, Stravens has determined that of parties that entered the county for reasons other than business or employment, 11 percent stayed seven or more nights in the five northern counties, and 18 percent stayed four to seven nights, 12 percent three nights, 9 percent two nights and 6 percent one night.

Others, 44 percent, were day trippers who did not spend the night, but 85 percent of leisure travel parties did visit Kootenai County, Stravens says.

Compiling the research was time consuming, even with the benefits of technology. Because the cameras can recognize numbers, but not specific state plates, that count had to be done manually, a process that took several hours a day.

Studies will continue through the summer, and to Stravens the project is worthwhile because it enhances and, he says, confirms much of the data of prior studies. It is the kind of data that is valuable to private clients, who have to come to rely on Stravens' population and demographics studies as vital market research.

"That is awesome information," said Dani Zibell-Wolfe, tourism vice president for the Coeur d'Alene Area Chamber of Commerce.

She is familiar with Stravens' product, having worked with him before on analyzing bed-nights, the data related to hotel and motel stays.

She was impressed with the data, which she says shows how vital the tourism industry is to North Idaho's economy. That is especially true this year, when the start of the season has been delayed by cool, damp weather and little sunshine.

"There are really that many people," she said. "A lot of day visitors come to Kootenai County and spend money. Even If they only stop on their way through for gas or a couple of bottles of water ... even a small percentage is still a significant impact on tourism. We still consider their business a big part of the economy."

She said the chamber also tracks Internet requests and phone calls seeking information on the region, and Stravens' data helps confirm that much of it is coming from nearby states, especially Washington.

A visitor log at the chamber's office shows they come from near and far, for a variety of reasons.

"Road trip," wrote a visitor from British Columbia, Canada.

"Touring," is the comment from a St. Louis, Mo., visitor.

Charleston, S.C., Anchorage, Alaska, New Mexico, Minnesota and Florida are also represented on just one page of the log.

Zibell-Wolfe said it remains to be seen if gas prices will mean visitors will stay longer this summer rather than taking in more destinations, and what other impact the changing economy will have on tourism.

"It is expensive to travel," she said. "Gas and airplane travel costs more. "Our economy is so reliant on tourism."

Information: 664-0409