Crowdscan installation
When joining the Urban Technology Alliance back in January 2024, Belgian based spin-off of the University of Antwerp and IMEC, had just entered the second phase of an innovation project with TRAM Barcelona.
This second phase builds on the success of an initial six-month pilot in 2023 that assessed installation feasibility as well as the quality and accuracy of the sensor-generated data that Crowdscan’s solutions can deliver and marked Crowdscan’s first step into the public transportation sector.
The focus of the second phase was to shift from initial pilot towards establishing operational integration, with the system now delivering real-time alerts when crowd density thresholds are exceeded and providing historical data to help TRAM optimize passenger flow and service quality.
Crowdscan: transportable sensors kit
(For more background into the first phase you can read more in this article: https://www.crowdscan.be/stories/tram-barcelona-chooses-crowdscan-for-measuring-occupancy-at-their-passenger-platforms or watch this video on Kurrant TV: https://kurrant.com/originals/tram-barcelona-improves-services-with-people-counting-solution/ )
After a year of successful testing, Crowdscan is proud to announce that TRAM Barcelona has expressed its intention to equip, as the first public transport operator, 10 of its busiest stations with this patented technology. A formal decision is expected in the first week of June, 2025.
The successful results with TRAM Barcelona have led to two new public transport projects in Q1 and Q2 of 2025, involving both the Dutch and Belgian railways.
- In the Netherlands, together with Prorail, sensors were installed on a platform at Tilburg Station to measure passenger distribution and density, and in Amsterdam Central to monitor real-time flow in the main concourse.
- In Belgium, the Channel Terminal (Eurostar) and several areas within Brussels South Station were equipped.
Beyond flow and density monitoring, these projects also evaluate integration with VMS systems such as Milestone or Genetec, enabling CCTV to be triggered automatically when predefined density thresholds are exceeded or anomalies are detected based on expected crowd patterns.
With these promising initial results in the railway sector, Crowdscan is now seeking (technical) partners and innovation projects through the Urban Technology Alliance to support further international scaling and deployment.
(contact via info@crowdscan.be or COO & Co-founder: anton.dierickx@crowdscan.be ).
Image of Crowdscan sensors
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Tram Barcelona
