Product Showcase: Next generation of automatic passenger counting

As in all modern industries, public transport’s progressing digitalisation is based on data. For many years, the management of small and large fleets has been an important issue in the development of local transport networks.

Satellite-based tracking and the implementation of powerful processors have resulted in the widespread use of telematics systems for fleet control and real-time passenger information in the past 15 years.

We are now seeing a further boost in innovation, triggered by powerful and globally accessible server networks (cloud computing) and the mass adoption of smartphones. New system architectures, including mobile devices and datasets in the cloud, are under discussion or are undergoing testing.

IRMA 6, the new sensor by iris-GmbH, has been developed to benefit public transport’s fast-evolving digital structure and is an excellent source of the data required for new services. The focus is no longer only on the management of the fleet or the deployment of the vehicles, but rather on the control of passenger flows. The more accurate the data, the more accurately passengers can plan their trip, helping transport companies to provide inclusive and individualised public transport; the IRMA 6 sensor offers crucial prerequisites to this idea.