Believe it or not, there is actually a science to people-watching.

Tracking down and counting pedestrians on city streets is an important tool for developing urban transportation policies and next week the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will hold conferences to discuss best practices for pedestrian data modeling, planning and advocacy.

The MTC, the region’s lead planning and transportation agency, will host workshops next Monday and Tuesday at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. The all-day events will begin at 9 a.m.