A study of the walking and cycling habits of commuters between Harvard and Radcliffe began yesterday as part of the University Planning Office's attempt to improve the routes between the two schools.

"This study will give us an idea of which walks should be widened and which ones should be eliminated in terms of the long range use of pedestrian walks," Harold L. Goyette, director of the office, said yesterday.

Students stationed themselves at various places between the Yard and Radcliffe and counted the number of pedestrians and bicycle riders who pass during one and one-half hour periods, choosing such comfortable vantage points as tree-shaded benches in the Cambridge Common.

"We also want to know the size of the bicycle population, which will help us in planning for the best locations and amount of space needed for bicycle parking lots," Goyette said.

About 40 students, armed with small, red, hand counters, are being paid $3 per hour to count the number of people passing between the Yard and Radcliffe this week between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The little push-button counters are decorated with small figures to denote either persons walking or riding bicycles. Two of the counters show cyclists going in either direction, and the other two represent people walking in one direction or the other.

The results of the study will be released by June 1974 as part of a comprehensive long-range planning program that is also researching future housing, automobile parking and utility system needs.

"Right now we're only collecting raw data to be collated and analyzed later," Goyette said. "At the present we haven't formed any hypothesis or made an analysis of the situation."