Timetable planning
Peak hours per stop and weekday, as a basis for service frequency and train length.
Passenger counting at stations and stops
Passenger counting at the access points of a station: how many people come to each stop and how many leave it, per hour and per day. In most cases the Axis cameras that already watch the platforms and entrances do the counting — Vicodis is an app installed on them, not a new device.
- Uses the Axis cameras already at the station
- Passengers in and out per station, hour and day
- Figures sent to your own server, no cloud
Station, today
3,420
passengers arrived at the station
Arrived3,420Left3,180Busiest hour07–08
Example figures, weekday
Context
The situation
Transport operators, transport authorities and municipalities need to know how busy each stop is: to plan timetables and train lengths, to justify step-free access or a longer platform, to apply for funding and to see whether a new connection is used. Manual counting days give a snapshot twice a year, and counting in every vehicle is expensive. Many stations, on the other hand, already have Axis cameras on the platforms and at the entrances — installed for safety, with power and network in place. Those cameras can count passengers at the station as well.
No new hardware
Use the Axis cameras already at the station
Passenger counting with existing cameras works because Vicodis is an app that runs on the camera itself. Any Axis camera with a deep-learning processing unit and AXIS Object Analytics — the ARTPEC-9, ARTPEC-8 and CV25 platforms — can take on passenger counting. There is no counting sensor to buy, no cable to pull and no server to set up: the app is installed on the existing camera, the licence is activated, and the counting line is drawn across the access path. The camera goes on streaming to your video management system as before; the counting runs alongside.
What decides is the view. A camera that looks down at a stairway, a ramp or an entrance from above at an angle usually counts well. A camera aimed along the whole platform from far away is made for overview, not for counting — there, re-aiming it or adding a camera at the access point is the better choice. Send us the model names and a still image of each view, and we check free of charge which cameras can count and where one is missing. Which models qualify is listed under camera requirements.
- App on the camera, no extra device.
- Power and network are already there.
- Video recording carries on unchanged.
- Free check of your models and views.
Counting points
What gets counted and where
Counting passengers at a train station happens where they enter and leave it: at the stairs and ramps to the platform, at the station entrance or at the access to a stop. Each access gets a counting line across the path and counts in both directions separately. With two or more accesses, the cameras are joined through Vicodis Zone, and one camera adds up the whole station — arrivals, departures and how many people are on the platform right now.
The counting happens at the station, not in the vehicle. It shows how many people come to a stop and how many leave it, not how many board a particular train or change between two platforms inside the station. Someone who walks onto the platform to meet a passenger is counted too. For timetable and infrastructure planning these station figures are exactly what is needed; occupancy per train requires counting systems in the vehicles.
counting line, one camera eacharrivingleaving
Products
Which Vicodis products are involved
| Product | Role at the station |
|---|---|
| Visitor Counter | The app on each camera: counts arrivals and departures at one access and keeps the figures on the camera |
| Vicodis Zone | Adds up all accesses of a station to one figure, including the number of people on the platform |
| Interfaces | Push to your server, REST API, CSV export and email reports through your own mail server |
Data collection
Passenger numbers per stop on your own server
An operator with dozens of stops does not want to open a dashboard per station. Vicodis therefore sends the passenger numbers per stop to a server you run: at an interval you set, between every 5 minutes and once a day, as an HTTPS request protected by a token. Each message carries the camera’s serial number and the counts in quarter-hour steps, so your server assigns the figures to station and access and builds its own statistics.
The camera sends, nothing has to reach into the camera network from outside. Where a push is not wanted, your system can fetch the figures through the REST API, or the camera emails a daily or monthly report through your own mail server. How the interfaces work is described on interfaces and exports.
From the camera to you
Push to your server5 min to daily
Resolutionquarter hours
REST API and CSVincluded
Vendor cloudnone
Purpose
What the data is used for
The counts are stored in 5-minute intervals and add up to hours, days, months and years — on each camera and on your server.
Infrastructure
Figures for step-free access, longer platforms, more stairs or a second entrance.
Funding and reports
Passenger numbers per station for funding bodies, councils and the transport authority.
Before and after
Whether a new line, a timetable change or construction work changes the demand.
Data protection
Counting without recording passengers
The counting itself creates no personal data. The camera analyses the image internally and keeps only the count; no face is recognised and no passenger is followed from one station to the next. Vicodis adds no recording and sends no image. Whatever video recording the station already has stays as it is, under its own purpose and legal basis. The principle is explained under counting and the GDPR.
- The app stores and sends no images
- No faces, no tracking between stations
- Only counts leave the camera
On site
Installation notes for this environment
The best counting point is where people walk straight in one direction: the head or foot of a stairway, a ramp or the station door. The camera should look down at the path from 2.50 metres upwards at an angle and cover its full width. Avoid the platform edge, where people stand and wait, and the area right at the train doors. When a full train arrives, a dense crowd pours up the stairs; a camera mounted higher and looking down more steeply keeps people apart better than one looking along the stairs.
Outdoor stops need an outdoor camera with infrared and a lit access path. Where exactly the counting line goes is covered in installing and aiming the camera.
- Count at stairs, ramps and doors
- From 2.50 m, looking down at the path
- Not at the platform edge or train doors
- Outdoor camera with infrared at open stops
FAQ
Questions from transport operators
01
Can we use the cameras that are already installed at our stations?
Often, yes. Vicodis runs on any Axis camera with a deep-learning processing unit and AXIS Object Analytics: the ARTPEC-9, ARTPEC-8 and CV25 platforms. The view matters too: a camera looking down at stairs or an entrance counts well, one aimed along the whole platform usually does not. Send us models and still images for a free check.
02
Does Vicodis count passengers inside buses and trains?
No. Vicodis counts at the station: how many people arrive at a stop and how many leave it, per access and in total. It does not show how many board a particular train or how full a vehicle is. For timetable and station planning the station figures are what counts; occupancy per vehicle needs counting systems installed in the vehicles.
03
How do the figures from many stations reach our system?
Each camera sends its counts to a server you run, between every 5 minutes and once a day, as an HTTPS request with a token. It carries the camera’s serial number and the counts in quarter-hour steps, so your server assigns them to stations. Alternatively your system fetches the figures through the REST API or receives email reports.
04
Does the count stay accurate when a full train arrives?
If the camera is placed well, yes. Count where people walk in one direction, such as a stairway or a door, and mount the camera high enough to look down steeply, so people in a crowd stay apart in the image. In extremely tight crowds individual people can be missed, which hardly affects trends, peak hours and station comparisons.
How many visitors does your entrance really have?
Tell us your camera model or your project — we check compatibility and come back with a concrete proposal.