Where to fit 2 million people?

Smart City Smart Mobility Traffic flow measurement

Traffic planning in an ever-growing metropolis is challenging. Nodeon’s traffic flow measurement and analysis services eliminate the need for guesswork.

Helsinki’s population is estimated to grow to 860,000 residents by 2050. During the same period, the population of the metropolitan area is expected to rise to 2 million.

Although the proportion of car traffic is expected to be lower in the future than it is today, it is still predicted to increase slightly by 2040.

This poses challenges for traffic planning — especially since space is already limited and will not increase in the future.

A dense and ever-evolving urban structure requires a highly efficient transportation system that utilizes space-saving modes of transport, such as public transport and non-motorized traffic. It is also necessary to understand the current state of traffic, particularly vehicle traffic.

Measuring and analyzing traffic flows support urban transportation planning

Nodeon’s traffic flow measurement and analysis service was implemented in the city of Helsinki. The gathered data significantly enhanced the client’s understanding of traffic flows and vehicle types in the central city area.

The origin-destination analysis provided information such as the registration locations (postal code areas) of vehicles passing through the measurement points. The results also shed light on emission values and the composition of vehicle types.

“The method chosen for studying downtown traffic proved to be an effective solution, says Petri Blomqvist, traffic researcher at Helsinki’s Traffic and Street Planning department. “We used automatic recognition of license plates and traffic counting using inductive sensors. That gave us valuable insights into vehicle registration locations, vehicle types, and likely origins for morning commutes and destinations for afternoon traffic.”

Nodeon measured traffic on entry routes to the city center, and studied through traffic across the downtown core and the east-west / west-east directions. Precise data on traffic volume, emissions, and origin points was analysed in Nodeon’s Smart City cloud environment.

Explore our services for traffic flow measurement and analysis