Emilia Romagna & AI4PT

In Emilia-Romagna region (Italy), public passenger transport is primarily managed by four companies: T-Per in the provinces of Bologna and Ferrara, Seta in Modena, Reggio Emilia, and Piacenza, Start Romagna in the provinces of Rimini, Forlì-Cesena, and Ravenna, and Tep in Parma. The smart passenger monitoring project, launched in 2020 by T-Per in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, aimed to control the number of passengers on buses to comply with occupancy limits imposed by DPCMs related to social distancing.

Using the Streamax surveillance system, installed by Cediss of Castenaso and without the need for additional hardware on the buses, NCM developed an advanced artificial intelligence algorithm. This algorithm, powered by images from the bus DVRs, enabled real-time recording of the number of passengers on board, updated every minute.

The solution proposed by NCM stood out for its simplicity of implementation, speed, accuracy, and low costs, qualities that also prompted Seta, Tep, and Start Romagna to rapidly adopt it, extending its use throughout the region and implementing the world's first AI-based passenger counting project.

Today, the system is operational on about 2000 buses across Emilia-Romagna, providing crucial data on transported passengers and for creating origin-destination matrices of passengers. This project not only improves the efficiency of the public transport service but also contributes to the safety and comfort of passengers, affirming NCM's commitment to promoting innovative and sustainable solutions through the use of artificial intelligence.