Helsinki modernizes traffic measurement solutions

Liikennettä Helsingin Uspenskin katedraalin edustalla

The City of Helsinki has a long tradition of using modern technologies in traffic planning. Nodeon continues this development by modernizing the city’s traffic measurement devices and bringing its data and analytics to the cloud.

Helsinki is the fastest-growing area in Finland in terms of traffic. Designing a traffic system in regions like Helsinki requires a solid understanding of current traffic flows and their development trends. That’s why comprehensive traffic measurements have been carried out in the city center since the early 1980s, using the most advanced technologies of the time.

Technologically, an enormous progress has been made since those days, but the old methods haven’t been completely abandoned. Traditional, highly accurate, and reliable measurements based on inductive loops still have their place. However, there are now modern techniques available for processing the data produced by inductive loops.

Data supports traffic planning development

The City of Helsinki had ambitious goals for advancing the use of traffic data. The transmission of it should be made in real-time, and the processing capabilities of historical data should be enhanced. This would ensure that the information is as accessible as possible for large-scale planning projects.

Additionally, a significant goal was to integrate the city’s own measurement data with the open traffic data from state-managed roads in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

he data is intended to be offered for both city use and public access.

Antti Muurikainen kalibroimassa mittauslaitetta — Nodeon’s project manager Antti Muurikainen calibrated the operation of the measurement loop during the system’s implementation.

Complete traffic flow measurement solution from Nodeon

The system implemented by Nodeon for the City of Helsinki provides a unified view of measurement data, combining the city’s own and state-managed measurement points in the metropolitan area. It utilizes existing inductive loops in the street network. The measurement devices receive the necessary power from the city’s streetlights (known as night electricity).

Historically, it was also notable that the new measurement devices chosen for the project were the modern M680 units (Clearview Intelligence), successors of the pioneering Golder River Traffic company once used by Helsinki.

When it comes to choosing the best measurement devices, designing field solutions, considering real-time capabilities, integrating data from various sources, and adding efficient data analysis, Nodeon is the right partner for the challenge!

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