Pedestrian Traffic Monitor provides more insight into pedestrian intensity

The Municipality of Rotterdam needed more insight into pedestrian flows. That is why, in February 2021, Witteveen+Bos developed the Pedestrian Traffic Monitor for the city. Using pedestrian counts and an analysis of various urban datasets, a machine-learning model was deployed. The results of the model were accessible via an online portal and provided the Municipality with clear insight into all kinds of pedestrian issues.

Pedestrian intensity

The most important area the Pedestrian Traffic Monitor helped the Municipality of Rotterdam with is pedestrian intensity: Where do people walk and where do they not? As well as this, the AI model found the following to be determining factors for Rotterdam pedestrians: density, network accessibility, footpath width, and distance to facilities and public transport. This knowledge was used to draw up targeted measures aimed at making walking more attractive in this ‘city on the Meuse’.

Valuable tool

The Pedestrian Traffic Monitor provided the Municipality of Rotterdam with a methodically compiled snapshot of the important and less important streets and routes for pedestrians – a valuable tool for professionals working on design, projects or interventions.

The Municipality of Rotterdam used the Pedestrian Traffic Monitor for policy and management purposes. The tool made it possible to determine what value a street has for pedestrians when developing a design plan. In terms of management, it can help prioritise maintenance, gritting policy, and the monitoring of obstacles on the pavement.

Insight

The Pedestrian Traffic Monitor gave the Municipality of Rotterdam insight into:

• The pedestrian intensity of each street in the city centre, which is more than ten square kilometres in size;
• the spatial factors which determine the movements of Rotterdam pedestrians;
• the possibilities for impact analysis of designs, projects and spatial interventions.

Read here more about the Pedestrian Traffic Monitor future plans.