Business profile
Paul Jackson, Peter Agnew and Steve Brown from the transport technology provider Tracsis and its subsidiary Sky High, describe developments in the field of passenger counting and surveying
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n a report commissioned in 2010 by Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, one of the
recommendations was that all new train carriages be fitted with automatic passenger counting equipment in order to improve the industry’s knowledge of the volume of passengers using the network and of travel patterns. Increasingly, train carriages are fitted
with a range of technical equipment to meet this requirement; however there are limitations at present as a significant shortfall exists in the number of carriages that contain Automatic Passenger Counting equipment. Specialist suppliers such as Tracsis offer a service to fill this gap, by obtaining passenger boarding and alighting data for numerous Toc's whose carriages have yet to be fitted with the technology. Each year a significant number
of boarding and alighting counts are undertaken. The methodology employed conforms to the Green Book requirements set out by the DfT. Manual passenger counts add value to the formal methodology by calculating the outputs from the boarding and alighting data, and aggregating the figures in the precise format required by Toc's and ultimately the DfT. The benefits of conducting regular and comprehensive passenger counts include:
• assisting in timetable planning and punctuality of services
• providing in-depth reporting for franchise requirements
• ensuring the correct allocation of ticket revenue
• assisting with resource allocation and strengthening
• determining station redevelopment requirements and likely outcomes
Various forms of survey are undertaken including:
• passenger counts • station surveys • revenue surveys • additional services including coach and bus counts, secure station passenger surveys and car park surveys
Accurate manual counting requires
good enumeration skills, particularly at busy stations. It also requires good planning and organisational skills - to manage count surveys which can involve up to 100 staff
include temporary CCTV surveys undertaken at various national rail stations to count station users and record how they use the station and its facilities.
on any one day. Such large surveys can generate huge volumes of data, all of which must be checked, processed and verified. This is undertaken by a specialist team and delivered in the specified Green Book format that ensures both the Toc and DfT can receive the data in the shortest possible time.
The move towards technology-based counting Suppliers are now offering a wide range of data collection surveys to support planning, including mobile video technology data collection and analysis, and people and vehicle tracking using Bluetooth, WiFi and GSM technology. Tracsis recently acquired Sky High, allowing it to offer these services alongside traditional, manual counts.
Mobile video technology Over the past 20 years, significant cost savings have been achieved in the highways sector through the use of video to capture vehicular movements on the roads. Video can also enhance the quality of data collected and processed, providing an historic record that can be reviewed and checked, ensuring a high degree of accuracy on which sound planning decisions can be based.
Mobile camera systems are self-
contained independently powered units, they can be installed in a matter of minutes and since no external connections are required, they are ideal for short to medium- term surveys and scenario testing at short notice. Some recent examples of this technology
Level crossings Roadside census monitoring data is collected at level crossings, the information provides usage data of all mode movements at a sample of level crossings over a set period of time. The data is collected using CCTV and Automatic Traffic Counters (ATC), and includes road traffic and pedestrian usage, number and time of trains passing through, safety barrier up and down times and data on vehicle queue length on approach to level crossings. Safety monitoring equipment is also installed trackside at level crossings, providing data logging and remote condition monitoring and is used by track operators to monitor parameters at various points on the track which can often indicate and help solve potential problems ahead. Combining data from the two techniques can be used to provide a comprehensive record of events at level crossings and cross checking of activities.
Automated people and vehicle tracking Suppliers such as Sky High have developed Bluetooth tracking technology as an unobtrusive method to observe movements of both people and vehicles. This has been utilised on a wide range of projects to identify vehicle and pedestrian assignment and behaviour through a study area, as well as at a number of high profile venues including the 2012 London Olympics, and the Aintree Grand National. In mid-2009, Sky High identified a
gap in the market for a cost-effective means of providing temporary pedestrian tracking survey data to transport planning professionals engaged in pedestrian planning projects for rail stations, stadia and major events.
The detection of unique signatures
emitted by Bluetooth devices such as mobile phones, in-car devices and laptops was identified as a potentially-suitable tracking method and in the course of this study, it was also identified that in the core traffic market there was a desire for a more robust and cost-effective method for vehicle tracking than traditional methods which are expensive and increasingly problematic due to legislation.
In late 2010, Sky High selected hardware July/August 2013 Page 131
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