Sturgis, South Dakota — Vehicle counts for the 2020 Sturgis motorcycle rally still trail last year’s rally, but not by as much as some had predicted.
The total number of vehicles entering Sturgis, South Dakota since the South Dakota Department of Transportation began counting last Friday, August 7th, the first official day of the rally, have totaled 365,979, which is not quite 30,000 fewer than the same period for the 2019 rally.
The biggest one day drop from last year came Wednesday, August 11th, when 52,710 vehicles entered the city, that’s down 12.4% from the previous year. Tuesday and Thursday also saw double-digit declines from last year, with Tuesday’s vehicle count at 52,710, which is down 11.2% from last year, and Thursday’s total of 46,263 marking a 10.2% decline over 2019.
For the first seven days of this year’s rally, the 365,979 total is some 7.5% lower than traffic counts for the 2019 rally.
Earlier this year, the merchants of Sturgis opted to sponsor the rally regardless of whether or not the City of Sturgis would be one of the sponsors. Up until that time this year’s rally had been in question, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally officially runs through this Sunday, August 16th.
