TAMPA, Fla. — The city of Tampa is now counting the amount of bicyclists and pedestrians on the road in a unique way: An Eco-Counter.

The display is up on North Boulevard and Cass Street. It counts the amount of cyclists and pedestrians who pass by and shows the numbers in real-time.

“This counter is about visibility. That pedestrians and cyclists count in the city of Tampa,” said Brandon Campbell, director of transportation services.

The city placed the counter on what they call the Green Spine — the primary biking and walking lanes in downtown that developed over the last decade.

Campbell said a camera uses machine vision to count people as they go by.

The hope is the visible numbers will show pedestrians they’re not alone on the roads.

“It engages everyone that walks by it,” said Paula Flores, board member of Walk Bike Tampa. “It’s a powerful tool to demonstrate the importance of the infrastructure and how it’s meeting the needs of the many people that walk, ride, and roll through the city.”

There are similar Eco-Counters in use across the world, but this is the first used in Tampa. Tampa’s will display both daily numbers and year-to-date.

City leaders hope the counter will reveal travel trends and encourage more folks to try out the growing bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

“We really want to encourage people to use the multimodal facility because we believe in our core that everyone deserves safe and sustainable and affordable actions to get where they’re trying to go,” Campbell said.

Campbell added the Green Spine is also being extended beyond downtown Tampa, from Howard Avenue through Ybor City.