Counting the Feet Beat

24/7 pedestrian monitoring system goes live in Auckland

A new automated pedestrian counting system in Auckland’s City Centre is already providing major benefits for the city and its commercial operators according to Heart of the City.

The Auckland central business association has installed the 24/7 monitoring system that charts pedestrian numbers at four key points in the city – three in Queen Street and one in High Street.

Heart of the City’s Tania Loveridge says the system provides better understanding of how people use the city centre at all times of the day.

“Previously we’ve had access only to ‘snapshot’ pedestrian counts taken on a Wednesday in mid-October every year – rain, hail or shine. Weather or road works or a cruise ship or even a blockbuster sale all can have huge impacts on the results,” Ms Loveridge says.

“But a lot can happen over a year in a vibrant place such as our city centre, so getting more useful data has been a priority for us.”

Ms Loveridge says the information provides meaningful performance data to assist property owners and retailers as well as tracking the impact of events such as the Farmers Santa Parade or the Volvo Ocean Race.

“For example, on Saturday 17 March when the city centre hosted both the Volvo Ocean Race and St Patrick’s Day celebrations, pedestrian numbers at the bottom of Queen Street increased by 63 per cent on the previous four Saturdays.

“From a commercial perspective, our members now have the ability to access pedestrian counts to assist in decision-making such as where to locate and opening hours. The information is also valuable for setting rental values and the like.

“The new technology provides automated pedestrian counts on a 24/7 basis enabling us to better understand the pedestrian numbers at any time or day of the year, and compare current and long term trends in the City Centre.”

The technology is similar to that used in-store by retailers counting foot traffic. Monitors located in canopies above the footpaths record movements, not images Ms Loveridge points out.

It translates the movements into data which is then transmitted via the 3G network to a server at the Heart of the City office, enabling real time reports to be accessed at any time.

“It’s definitely not Big Brother – there are no pictures - and the technology isn’t new but the benefits for our city and local business are immense,” Ms Loveridge says.

“The system is already proving its worth and we hope, in partnership with others, to be able to expand the number of locations over time to cover the whole City Centre.”

Heart of the City members are the first to see the pedestrian counts. Ms Loveridge says she knows of no other city in New Zealand using such a system.

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