Counting bikes?

Fellow bike commuter Bob T sent me this note:

I noticed something interesting on the way to work today. I was heading east on Emerald and just after turning south on Maple Grove I noticed one of those rubber hoses on the road used to measure traffic levels. Except the hose extended over the bike lane only. I have never seen anything like this before. In the past I think that the ACHD has had to count bikes manually, but this appeared to be an automated system.

Hmmm. I know the device he's talking about - a pneumatic hose that, when run over, increments the number on a traffic counting device.

Like Bob, I've not seen one of those in use solely in a bike lane before. I'm also a little bewildered at the timing. Late October seems an unlikely time to be counting bike traffic. (Unless it's being counted by somebody to support a position that too much is being done for the very few people who ride bikes. And that seems unlikely.)