Oslo municipality has an extensive system for counting pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles. The system consists of measuring stations from several different manufacturers and uses technology based on radar detectors or video analysis. Hitherto, 37 of these are connected to Infracontrol Online and deliver data that provides valuable information for planning and implementing various measures. Furthermore, the municipality is able to share information with third parties easily via Infracontrol Online’s open API. The measuring stations were delivered and installed by Proxll AS, which also takes care of operations and maintenance.
Jonas Bratt, business area manager at Infracontrol, tells us there is an increasing need for a general platform:
“As opportunities for counting traffic increase, there is a growing need to render the information visual in a simple, clear way. There is a need for a coordinated picture showing all measuring points, regardless of the type of traffic or the type of equipment. Our Infracontrol Online cloud service is able to collate information from different sources, render it visual in real time and also make it accessible for more people.”
General, open platform
The 37 connected measuring stations come from three different suppliers; ViaTraffic, Viscando and Wavetronix. They use somewhat different technologies, from radar detection to video analysis.
“Infracontrol Online lets us gather data from all of our measuring equipment, regardless of type and make,” says Jonas Bratt. “The measuring stations are connected via 3G and provide data in real time or near real time – once an hour at least. Some of them have a permanently connected power supply, but most of them are powered by solar panels.”
He goes on to tell us that Infracontrol Online works as a collection point for traffic data. Through its open API, it can make the information available to third parties such as the Norwegian Institute of Transport Economics, which runs various traffic and transportation research projects.
Infracontrol Online makes it easy to collect traffic data from different sources and combine it with other information such as temperature, wind and precipitation.
Everything in one place
Measuring traffic of different types such as pedestrians, cyclists, cars and buses and other vehicles provides valuable information for planning and prioritizing various traffic-related measures. New technical solutions make it possible to measure traffic continually, follow the traffic situation in real time and collect data for statistics and follow-up. But the numerous types of measuring equipment and many different types of traffic can make it difficult to gain an overview.
“Infracontrol Online is able to collate information from different sources and render it visual in real time,” says Jonas Bratt. “In addition to presenting the information in a clear, uniform manner it is also possible to combine information of various types and see relationships that were not previously visible.”
He provides the example of being able to see simultaneous flows of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles at an intersection. Another example is combining statistics from the measurement of cycle traffic with information about weather to see how it affects cycling habits.
Efficient operations monitoring
Connecting measuring equipment to Infracontrol Online also means access to efficient monitoring.
“Operational disruptions are registered by the service which sends the information directly to the appropriate individual for rapid action,” explains Jonas Bratt. “This means the loss of valuable traffic data is minimized.”
An example would be where the voltage in batteries charged by solar panels is temporarily too low during the darker part of the year.
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