Delivering a ‘smart’ Amsterdam Central Station

Under a contract awarded by the Netherlands Railways (NS), Royal HaskoningDHV has been measuring the pedestrian flows of Amsterdam Central Station since the beginning of May. The data enables NS to optimise the often complex pedestrian flows at this station, thereby improving comfort and safety of the 250,000 daily visitors of Amsterdam Central Station. Royal HaskoningDHV has implemented a range of technologies that are already in use other stations in the Netherlands, including tracking and counting se
May 26, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Under a contract awarded by the Netherlands Railways (NS), 6132 Royal HaskoningDHV has been measuring the pedestrian flows of Amsterdam Central Station since the beginning of May. The data enables NS to optimise the often complex pedestrian flows at this station, thereby improving comfort and safety of the 250,000 daily visitors of Amsterdam Central Station.
 
Royal HaskoningDHV has implemented a range of technologies that are already in use other stations in the Netherlands, including tracking and counting sensors at the station’s entrances and exits and wi-fi tracking from mobile devices. These provide data on where flows of pedestrians enter and leave the station and enables their numbers, walking routes, length of stay and  times of day to be measured, as well as how busy the different locations are.

The data gathered is then analysed to inform new measures that improve pedestrian flow around the station. These might include changing the design and layout of the station, relocating public transport gates, deploying station staff differently, or finding the most logical positions for signposting and the best points to offer station and other information.
Networking & Communication Systems Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • US Cities push for smarter poles
    June 25, 2018
    US Cities The need to connect existing infrastructure has led various US transit authorities into imaginative alleyways: David Crawford examines some new roles for street furniture. US cities are vying with each other in developing schemes to create a new generation of connected places. Their strategies include taking advantage of their streetlight poles’ height and ubiquity to give them new roles in supporting intelligent nodes. They are now being equipped for collecting real-time data on key transport
    Read More
  • Growth of smart parking initiatives
    April 25, 2013
    New initiatives in smart parking have been announced in the US and Europe in recent months. Is the age of smarter parking finally with us? Jon Masters investigates. Smart parking comes to Manchester, reads the headline to a story posted on the UK city’s website towards the end of March this year. Sensors will be fixed to parking spaces to give drivers and authorities information on parking availability via mobile phone apps and other software, the story goes on to explain. Lower down the page, Manchester Ci
    Read More
  • Buses services benefit from seamless Wi-Fi data transfer
    April 9, 2014
    Ted Bowser explains how the almost total Wi-Fi coverage at Ride-On’s new bus garage is providing big benefits for the operator and passengers alike. The ability to download and upload data to and from the various systems on board buses has become central to mass transit operators’ business model. So when Ride-On, the public transportation system in Maryland’s Montgomery County, was moving one of its three depots into a bigger and purpose-built facility, connectivity was a key consideration.
    Read More
  • Data holds the key to combating VRU casualties
    May 8, 2015
    Accident analysis software can help authorities identify common causes and make best use of their budgets, as Will Baron explains. More than 1.2 million people die on the world’s roads each year and according to the World Health Organisation, half of these are pedestrians and vulnerable road users (those whose vehicle does not have a protective shell, such as motorcyclists and cyclists). While much has been done to improve road safety and cut the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, a great d
    Read More

Highlighted Content