Transport body using AI to engineer safe return to work for commuters

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is working with a London-based artificial intelligence (AI) specialist to improve passenger safety as the region bids to achieve a safe return to work post-coronavirus lockdown.

Humanising Autonomy’s behavioural video analytics software will be deployed as a part of TfGM’s coronavirus response.

The analysis will aid TfGM in understanding social distancing implications, enable assessment of how passenger behaviour is affected by the pandemic, and understand how infrastructure is used.

The project was awarded funding as a part of the Innovate UK COVID-19 Rapid Response Competition.

Humanising Autonomy’s cloud analytics software will analyse video footage from existing CCTV systems at Bolton and Wythenshawe interchanges and Wigan bus station to study the behaviours of pedestrians and transport users.

This will enable TfGM to understand situations where social distancing adherence is challenging and provide insights into the number of people in groups and their directional movement.

Furthermore, TfGM will benefit from data collected over time, which can be used to better understand the capacity for walking, cycling and how space is used at transport interchanges.

Leslie Nooteboom, co-founder and chief product officer at Humanising Autonomy, said: “TfGM’s partnership with Humanising Autonomy takes advantage of the anonymised, GDPR-compliant data they collect.

“By overlaying pre-existing CCTV footage with our predictive AI software we can provide fast, accurate insights into how society is functioning under social distancing measures.”

He added: “We’re thrilled to work with TfGM to provide valuable data insights, which will see Greater Manchester return to a safer, more efficient new normal post-pandemic by providing the facilities management team with behavioural insights and temporal analysis at the three busiest interchanges across GM.”

Nicola Kane, head of strategic planning, insight and innovation at TfGM, said: “The partnership with Humanising Autonomy will allow us to develop effective transport improvements to support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, quickly and efficiently, based on real-world intelligence.”

She said: “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to prioritise the safety of our staff and passengers, whilst respecting passengers’ privacy, and are hopeful the solution will facilitate effective social distancing on the transport network.”

Both partners are committed to respecting data privacy and individual rights.

Stringent data management and protection measures were specifically developed for this project.

The project is GDPR-compliant and does not collect name, contact information or identify passengers.

The TfGM system sees more than 850,000 users complete 5.6 million journeys daily.