Richmond rolls out IoT sensor network to optimise use of public realm

Richmond Council is rolling-out digital sensors to provide insights into active travel and pedestrian movements, to inform planning to improve the road network and urban environment and help make the borough smarter, safer and more sustainable.

The Council will be working with UK-based transport AI company Vivacity Labs, using their AI and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to anonymously monitor a number of things including use of cycle infrastructure, pedestrian use of town centres and use of motor vehicles.

The Covid pandemic created a cultural shift in residents’ daily habits, resulting in traffic levels falling dramatically, creating a safer environment to take their daily exercise or plan essential trips during periods of lockdown. With a move back towards a new normal, the new sensors can help the Council understand whether residents have permanently shifted habits and how they move around their local areas.

The digital sensors, which are being installed from today, are being implemented as part of the South London Partnership’s InnOvaTe Project, funded by the Strategic Investment Pot as part of the London Councils Business Rates Retention scheme which is administered by the City of London Corporation. The project uses IoT to address challenges in communities and identify opportunities to help people live better, healthier lives and live independently for longer.

The sensors are designed to provide accurate data on road and pavement usage in a completely anonymous way. They do not collect personal data, and the technology cannot be used to gather any kind of personal data or for enforcement purposes.

"Recovery from the pandemic gives us the opportunity to step back and look at how we will use our public spaces going forward," said Cllr Alexander Ehmann, Chair of the Transport and Air Quality Committee. "Early in the pandemic we quickly made urgent temporary changes to road and pavement space in order to accommodate for active travel and help people to keep their distance. These measures have greatly improved the public realm, but as we move into the recovery period we anticipate that people’s transport habits and the way they use public space will continue to adapt. These sensors will give us a granular picture of how traffic levels and transport and pedestrian movements change through the course of a day, week or month."

The data gathered by the sensors will inform any plans the Council have to make public spaces more accessible, safe and healthy for all users.