SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — If the pacing continues, the traffic count at the 84th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally should pass 400,000, but by how much?
Tuesday’s count at nine entrance locations was 54,451, according to the South Dakota Department of Transportation. The total traffic count through Tuesday is 268,910. The to date five-year average is 284,529.
The single-day count is 5.2% lower than the five-day average for Tuesday. It’s lower than last year’s 55,848 entering vehicles.
The rally has a history of 50,000 plus entering vehicles on Wednesdays since 2018. Last year’s Wednesday total was 56,444. It was 54,599 in 2022.
If the entering vehicle totals for each day from Wednesday through the second Friday through Sunday reaches daily five-year averages, the vehicle count would be about 476,000. That would be higher than 2023’s count of 458,161. From a stretch of 2018 to 2023, it would only be higher than the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020 with a traffic count of 462,182.
If the daily count pace stays at 5% lower than 2023 for the remaining days, the total count will struggle to reach 450,000.
The rally has added a motorcycle street racing event for Sunday, the last day of the rally. Sturgis city officials said the race should attract more attendees toward the end of the week and entice some attendees to stay through the race.
Rally traffic totals have been used to estimate attendance along with other data. The city used cell phone data to track visitations last year. The city also used the amount of garbage collected during the rally and grid analysis of photos.
Entering traffic totals were much higher from 2011 to 2015. The 2011 traffic count was 580,601. It stayed above 500,000 until it peaked for the 75th anniversary in 2015. The count reached 747,032 in 2015.
The rally extended into a 10-day event in 2017.
