The Challenge
Bielefeld wanted to put inner-city decisions on evidence: what do events, seasons, and street works actually do to pedestrian traffic on Obernstrasse, at Jahnplatz, and in the Altstadt? The city put a measurement system out to public tender and awarded it to Ariadne.
The Solution
Since August 2024, around 100 sensors mounted on light masts have covered 15 streets and 5 squares across the inner city and Altstadt. The system counts pedestrians only, filters out cars and cyclists, and reports aggregated flows, never individuals. The data serves the city's digitalization office and the business development agency WEGE.
The Impact
The city uses the measurements for event planning, for attractiveness analysis of individual squares and streets, and as input for traffic planning, as part of its Open Innovation City program. In its first five months the system registered more than 11 million visits across the measured zones.
