It's rush hour on a weekday afternoon, and cars are already backed up at the intersection of Krog Street and Edgewood Avenue. Drivers slowly crawl forward as a group of bicyclists speeds past.

Atlanta Bicycle Campaign volunteers Lyuba Zuyeva and Carmen Harris stand on the corner with clipboards and feverishly jot down details about each cyclist. With 95 bikes crossing the intersection in a two-hour period, they have no time to relax.

Johnny Crawford/jcrawford@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Greggory Rothmeier fills out the bike riders survey as Atlanta Bicycle Campaign worker Carmen Harris (back left) and cyclist Ashlie Ramsey talk on Krog Street.

Johnny Crawford/jcrawford@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Carmen Harris (left) and Lyuba Zuyeva count the number of bicycle riders that rolled through the intersection of Edgewood and Krog.

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"We don't know exactly how much bicycling has increased, so we're doing the count," Zuyeva said.

The campaign spent the last two weeks tallying cyclists as they drove through eight intersections around the city, the first such effort of its kind. Volunteers weren't just counting the number of cyclists, but seeing who was riding and how many were doing so safely.

The aim is to show city leaders that bicycling is a viable form of transportation, and to shed light on how often cyclists follow safety procedures.

The survey, to be repeated two to four times a year, counted 710 bicyclists total, and an average of about 21 cyclists per hour weekdays in the early morning and late afternoon. The vast majority, 95 percent, were adults 18 years of age and older, and eight out of 10 were men.

More than a third — 37 percent — didn't have helmets, and roughly one-quarter were riding on the sidewalk, which is illegal.

"We're trying to get people past the point where they say the bike is a toy," said Rebecca Serna, executive director of the bicycle campaign. "We still don't have the social understanding that bicycles are a form of transportation."

As the Atlanta Department of Planning and Community Development prepares to finalize its long-awaited transportation plan later this year, many are calling for the city to become more bike-friendly.

The city is far behind others, according to the 2007 Atlanta Region Bicycle Transportation and Pedestrian Walkways Plan by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

That study rated about 700 miles of roadways in metro Atlanta on a scale of "A" to "F." The average score for the region was "E," or "relatively poor." Taking into account such factors as traffic volume and speed; lane widths, shoulders and bike lanes; paving conditions; and on-street parking, Atlanta was rated among the worst cities surveyed for bicyclists.

Regan Hammond, a principal planner for the commission, cited Portland, Seattle and Athens as model cities. But progress is being made here, she said. "There has been a renewed interest in the past couple years to get things going."

The city hasn't updated its bike plan since 1995, but the Department of Planning and Community Development is drafting a master transportation plan.

The Connect Atlanta plan will encompass all modes of transportation and will outline a prioritized list of improvements and new bike routes. Atlanta's Beltline project, for instance, will feature a 22-mile loop of trails and green space.

"It is robust, very comprehensive, and in a sense is a philosophical shift for the city," said Heather Alhadeff, an assistant department director in charge of transportation planning. "I think everyone recognizes that metro Atlanta and the city are hard areas for cyclists to travel."

Bicycle advocates say more cyclists are likely to ditch their cars with construction work clogging up roads and the cost of fuel rising.

Atlanta and other Sun Belt cities were built when only automobiles ruled the streets, Alhadeff said. These cities are now faced with the challenge of retrofitting with new signage, bike lanes and painted arrows on portions of the roads for bikes to travel.

Stretches of Boulevard, Carroll Street, Wylie Street and Hosea Williams Drive are slated to have "Share the Road" signs posted within the next 30 days, according to the Department of Public Works.

Alhadeff said candidates for bike lanes are evaluated on a case-by-case basis using factors such as road width, topography, traffic congestion and parking needs.

Determining which streets have bike paths sometimes is a contentious issue. Some cyclists, for example, were disappointed to learn bike lanes were not in the plans for the new 14th Street bridge.

"They built the 17th Street bridge with bike lanes, but they didn't follow it up again," said Greg Masterson, president of the Metro Atlanta Cycling Club.

Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan said it made no sense to have bike paths on the 14th Street bridge when they were not on the rest of the street. "It would be confusing for cyclists as well as motorists," she said.

And even on the 17th Street bridge, Georgia Tech graduate student Shobith Alva prefers to walk his bike on the sidewalk rather than use the bike lane, because that lane adjoins the bus lane. "Sometimes it gets scary when buses pass by," Alva said.

The presence of a bike lane doesn't always guarantee the cyclists' right of way.

Bicycle campaign volunteers were watching when a man and a woman riding east on Edgewood were nearly hit when a sport-utility vehicle swerved into their lane. The woman screamed, and the man shouted at the SUV's driver, "What were you doing?"

Another bicyclist, Larry Crawford, 56, who rides on Edgewood to exercise, said he always uses the bike lane. If no lane is present, he isn't comfortable riding in traffic — even though he's legally entitled to — and instead tries to hug the curb.

Crawford also wouldn't dare ride on the sidewalk. "I've seen what happens if people ride on the sidewalk when people are walking," he said.

Sara Fuchs, who pedals about 25 minutes to her job at Georgia Tech, said she'll go out of her way to take a safer route. She also doesn't venture out on her bike without looking at a map first.

Riding a bike might be a little extra work, but for her, it's worth it.

"I feel like I'm much more a part of a city when I'm on my bike than if I'm in a car with the windows rolled up," she said.