TfGM Video Analytic Sensors

TfGM sought to establish a contract for the purchase, installation, maintenance of video analytic sensors, and a data platform to access the data from the sensors. This will allow TfGM to improve its data which will enable us to justify, monitor and evaluate improvements we make to the transport network. It is anticipated that approximately 105 sensors will be purchased under this contract, though this is not confirmed and subject to change depending on cost and budget.

Around £180m is being invested in walking and cycling schemes in Greater Manchester (GM) to 2023, this is the largest single investment in transport in the city region and will support transport, decarbonisation, air quality and public health goals. Over the next 10-15 years we plan to invest around £1.5bn in walking and cycling infrastructure in GM.

We need to enhance our monitoring capabilities to be able to effectively measure the success of this substantial investment as well as to better understand the use of active travel modes across GM to inform long term cycling and walking strategies.

At present we have a shortfall in sources of continuous data on volumes of people cycling and (particularly) walking across GM. Existing continuous data sources are limited to around 70 automatic cycle counters (some of which also count people walking) across our 1,276 km² city region and a small number of locations (primarily in the regional centre) where video analytic sensor cameras have been installed on a trial basis through externally funded research projects.

We believe that a video analytics sensor-based technology will have advantages over more traditional loop- or radar-based counting systems in certain contexts, particularly in relation to the counting of people walking, and particularly in busy, mixed-mode environments.

This contract will enable us to utilise this technology as a key component of our walking and cycling monitoring plans. This is expected to include around 100 new monitoring locations in the next few years and further locations in future as more of the planned cycling and walking network is brought forwards.

Though the initial need for an enhanced monitoring network is to address our data deficit across the cycling and walking modes, we also envisage using the equipment for other purposes such as capturing data on motorised vehicles in future. We also expect to be able to use the technology for collecting different types of data (such as path tracing and zone occupancy) to meet wider analysis needs related to walking, cycling and other transport modes