Fresh Pond Census Report

The Cambridge Water Department (CWD) manages Fresh Pond Reservation (FPR). In 2011, we designed a Census Program to quantify usership at FPR. This report shares annual results from this program.

More people visit FPR today than before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. FPR usership peaked in 2020.

FPR usership typically:

• Peaks in May and September
• Is higher on weekends than weekdays

Hourly trends vary by season, day of the week, and time period.

The pandemic likely drove the initial increase in usership during 2020. Other factors may have also impacted usership. These include:

• New bicycle infrastructure
• Weather and climate patterns
• New residential construction

Fresh Pond Reservation (FPR) is 162 acres of open space in western Cambridge. This land surrounds Fresh Pond, protecting it from pollution. Fresh Pond is a reservoir that stores water for  Cambridge's drinking water supply .

The  Cambridge Water Department (CWD)  manages FPR. Our goal is to protect the water supply and natural habitat. We also maintain trails for visitors.

Through the Census Program, we count the number of visitors at FPR. This data helps inform site management. The Census Program began in 2011 and allows us to track usership over time.

We  calculate total usership  based on how many people walk around the Perimeter Road. This is the main trail at FPR. It circles Fresh Pond.

• Total usership summaries:
  •  Annual 
  •  Month 
  •  Day of Week  
  •  Hourly 

• Other summaries:
  •  Entrances 
  •  Bicycles 

CWD has observed the following annual trends:

• Before 2020, an average of 431,400 people visited FPR each year.
• During 2020, usership jumped to over 576,300 people. This was the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• After 2020, usership decreased. Despite this decrease, annual visitor totals remain higher than the pre-pandemic average.

FPR usership may have leveled out at a "new normal" that is higher than pre-pandemic conditions.

FPR is often busiest in May and September with around 45,000 to 50,000 visitors per month. The fewest people visit FPR during winter months (December, January, and February). This pattern is the same before and after 2020.

In 2020, March usership reached 62,600 visitors, the highest of any month on record. Visitor totals between April and December 2020 reached record highs for those months.

Monthly average usership after 2020 increased compared to before 2020. Summer usership (June - September) increased the least compared to before 2020.

FPR tends to be busiest on weekend days (Saturday and Sunday). This pattern is true before, during, and after 2020. Average weekend usership since 2020 has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Interestingly, midweek usership remains elevated.

FPR usually has two peaks in use during the day. The first peak occurs mid-morning, around 10:00 am. The second happens mid-afternoon around 4:00 pm. These visitor peaks are present before, during, and after 2020.

Usership after 2020 is higher than before 2020 during most hours of operation. However, usership has increased the most in the early morning (7:00 am - 8:00 am) and mid-afternoon to early evening (2:00 pm - 5:00 pm).

Hourly user patterns can vary depending on the day of week, season, and time period.

Use the plot filters in the interactive dashboard below to see how hourly patterns change depending on these variables.

CWD also counts how many visitors enter and exit FPR from four footpath entrances. These paths lead to the Perimeter Road trail. This data helps us understand the flow of users to inform site management.

At the entrances where we count users, we have observed the following trends:

• Community Gardens is the busiest entrance
• Black's Nook has the fewest visitors
• Lusitania has been trending upwards overall since at least 2018
• Pro Shop saw elevated usership in 2016 due to a construction detour
• Usership spiked in 2020 at all entrances with sensors
  • the Community Gardens sensor was not added until 2020

Since 2020, usership at:

• Pro Shop has returned to pre-pandemic levels
• Lusitania and Black's Nook remains higher than before 2020
• Community Gardens has been stable-to-increasing since 2020

Entrance visitor counts vary by time of day, day of week, season, and time period relative to 2020.

Explore how these variables influence hourly usership using the interactive dashboard below. Use the dropdown menus to see how user patterns change at the Community Gardens, Lusitania, Pro Shop, and Black's Nook.

CWD estimates the number of cyclists at FPR with a sensor along the Perimeter Road at WTPMULTI. Historic bicycle and pedestrian data also exist from an old counting station (BPMULTI) along the Fresh Pond Bike Path.

In a typical year, roughly 27,000 to 39,000 cyclists pass the Perimeter Road sensor. Cyclist counts nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing from 29,600 to 56,900. However, bicycle usership had returned to pre-pandemic levels by 2022. A trend of increasing bicycle use may have developed since 2022.

Most Perimeter Road users are pedestrians. Only a small portion of people passing the WTPMULTI sensor are riding bikes.

Note: Low pedestrian counts in 2017 and 2018 were due to a construction detour. This detour routed users off the Perimeter Road and onto the Fresh Pond Bike Path. Perimeter Road bike counts in 2017 and 2018 remained stable.

The   Watertown-Cambridge Greenway (WCG)   opened in June 2022. This trail connects the Fresh Pond Bike Path at FPR to Watertown. Both pedestrian and bicycle usership on the Perimeter Road has increased since 2022.

Factors that may affect usership at Fresh Pond Reservation include:

• Behavior changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Extreme weather and shifting climate patterns;
• Changes in bicycle and transportation infrastructure; and
• Local development patterns.

These variables may work in combination or individually to impact visitor trends.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how many people work, socialize, and recreate. These changes likely affected usership patterns at FPR during and after 2020.

• Public health measures during the pandemic restricted indoor gatherings. This likely caused  the dramatic rise in usership in 2020 , especially in  March . Massachusetts declared its first  COVID-19 public health emergency  on March 10, 2020. People likely flocked to FPR to safely recreate and socialize during this time.

• New users may have discovered FPR for the first time in 2020. Some may have continued visiting, even after the pandemic restrictions lifted. New permanent visitors could be one reason why   usership at FPR is still higher than before 2020 .

• Telework. The COVID-19 pandemic likely led to more telework, eliminating commutes for many people. This could be why  FPR usership has increased the most during commuting hours . It could also explain why usership has increased  on weekdays but not weekends. 

• Cold weather recreation.  FPR usership in historically colder months of the year has increased more than warmer months.   Perhaps fear of illness has led more people to recreate outside during cold and flu season than before the pandemic.

Warmer fall and winter temperatures could also explain increased usership during cold-weather months. Independent of COVID-19, FPR often has fewer visitors on very hot, wet, cold, or snowy days. For example, 2015 set records for February snowfall and cold temperatures:

• Average air temperature: 19 ^o  F
• Total snowfall: 68.4 inches

FPR had the fewest visitors in 2015 of any February-to-date.*

*Note: User counts were  missing during seven days in February 2015 from snow and ice blocking the sensors .

However, visitor counts may increase in the winter during unusually warm, dry periods. For example, February 2024 was a mild month:

• Average air temperature: 35.2 ^o  F
• Total snowfall: 0.5 inches

FPR had the most visitors that month of any February-to-date. Climate change could cause milder winters, leading to increased winter usership at FPR. It could also reduce usership by worsening weather events like heat waves and heavy rain.

Changes to transportation infrastructure near FPR could alter visitor patters. For example:

• FPR received a  Blue Bikes  station on June 27, 2017
• The  Watertown-Cambridge Greenway (WCG)  bike path opened in June 2022

These amenities could help more people visit FPR due to increased bicycle accessibility.

Perimeter Road bicycle use  did not increase  after the Blue Bikes station opened. This could be because  most Perimeter Road users are pedestrians . Blue Bikes cyclists may dock their bikes before walking or jogging on the Perimeter Road.

Perimeter Road bicycle use has increased since the WCG opened in 2022. Anecdotal observations show that pedestrians also use the WCG to access FPR. New users from the WCG since 2022 could help explain why  FPR usership remains higher than before 2020  . 

Note: Fresh Pond Bike Path bicycle counts increased after the WCG opened in 2022. Learn more about Fresh Pond Bike Path user trends in  the appendix .

New residential developments north and east of FPR could also influence usership. Between 2013 and 2023, there were at least 3,199 new residential units built within a 1-mile radius of FPR. These units have been clustered north/northeast of FPR.  This could be why more people appear to be using the northeastern entrances to FPR, such as Lusitania. 

This Fresh Pond Bike Path sensor (BPMULTI) was operational from 2015 through 2023. It was a "multi" sensor capable of differentiating between bikes and pedestrians.

During this time, most people on the Fresh Pond Bike Path were cyclists. There were with a few exceptions:

• Pedestrians outnumbered cyclists in 2017 and 2018 during the construction detour.
• Pedestrians were roughly equal in number to cyclists in 2020 and 2021. This was due to an increase in pedestrians, not a decrease in bikers.

Between 2021 and 2023, bicycle users on the Fresh Pond Bike Path more than doubled. There were about 66,500 bicycle counts in 2021, rising to 142,300 in 2023.

The  WCG  opened in June 2022, coinciding with this increase. The WCG connects the Fresh Pond Bike Path to Watertown. The WCG likely explains why cyclist counts began increasing in 2022.

 More cyclists used the Fresh Pond Bike Path than the Perimeter Road  between 2015 and 2023.

Explore the  Fresh Pond Reservation Census Program Report Data Documentation  for detailed documentation about:

• The sensors used to count users
• Data quality control
• How we calculate usership in this report

Get data presented in this report from the  Cambridge Open Data Portal .