CAM-96
Taxi rank: two queues at once
The taxi rank outside the station at night: a line of cars waiting on the left and a group of people with suitcases on the right. IRIS counts the cars and counts the people; it does not know who any of them are.
Turn on IRIS Vision
AI-generated image
What IRIS understands
What it recognises in this scene
- taxi rank
- passenger queue
- taxi
What this camera gives back
Nobody gets an alert here. Here you get numbers.
- 14Taxis on the rank
- 9People waiting
- 3 minAverage wait
- 86Trips started
- 21:10Peak hour
- 2 h 40 minRank empty
The figures on this screen are an example from the illustration, not any client's measurement.
The series, not one figure
One number says nothing. A curve does.
Taxis and passengers, side by side
- Taxis at the rank
- Passengers waiting
| Slot | Taxis at the rank | Passengers waiting |
|---|---|---|
| 06 | 6 | 4 |
| 08 | 9 | 22 |
| 10 | 14 | 9 |
| 12 | 16 | 6 |
| 14 | 12 | 8 |
| 16 | 10 | 11 |
| 18 | 7 | 26 |
| 20 | 5 | 18 |
| 22 | 11 | 5 |
The figures on this screen are an example from the illustration, not any client's measurement.
How the counting works
Counting is not something you ask for. You draw a line.
There are two things to measure here, and they are measured differently. The area painted over the line of taxis says how many cars are standing and how long each has been waiting. The line across the pick-up point adds up every trip that starts. And by counting the people on the pavement at the same time, you know which of the two queues is the long one at any moment. The three geometries are traced once onto the frame; from then on, a Tuesday in March can be compared with a Tuesday in October.
- pick-up line · Counting line
- rank zone · Dwell zone
What changes
What changes for whoever runs the station
The council and the taxi trade argue about the same thing every year: whether there are too many cars on the rank or too few. Both are right, but at different hours, and neither can prove it. With the area and the line in place there are two curves over the same clock: how many cars are waiting and how many people are waiting. Mid-morning the rank stands empty for two hours straight; at nine in the evening there are nine people with suitcases and no car at all. With that, the mobility officer and the trade associations talk about shifts and reinforcements with numbers in hand instead of impressions. And because the geometry does not change, next year it is measured the same way and you can see whether what was agreed actually worked.
What people usually ask
Can the taxis and the passengers be counted with the same camera?
Yes, both can be counted with the same camera, because each thing has its own geometry. The line of cars is measured with an area over the tarmac, which says how many there are and how long they have been standing. People are counted on the pavement and at the pick-up line, which adds up every trip that starts. They are two separate counts sharing the same clock, and that is where the value is: laid one over the other they show the mismatch, which is exactly what you cannot see by watching only one of them.
Does IRIS read taxi plates or licence numbers?
No, this camera reads no plates and no licence numbers, and it does not identify the people on the pavement either. To know whether there are too many cars or too few passengers, it is enough to count how many there are and how long they have been there, and that is done without knowing whose each vehicle is. It is a deliberate choice: on a taxi rank, a figure that points at individual drivers poisons the very conversation this number is meant to make possible. What comes out are aggregate figures by time band, which is exactly what it takes to talk about shifts without pointing at anyone.
Can this data be shared with the taxi trade?
Yes, and it is the best use for it. What comes out of this camera is aggregate figures by time band: cars on the rank, people waiting, trips started and hours with the rank empty. There is no identified person and no singled-out vehicle in any of it, so it can be put on the table at a meeting without a problem. And because the line and the area do not move, the trade can check the figure again next month and argue about the policy instead of arguing about the measurement. That is what turns a yearly row into an agreement you can review.
The real interface, step by step
We won't just tell you. We'll show you.
It is a summary of the real screen: it plays by itself, step by step, and shows only the path of one case. The actual tool has far more than fits in here.
- The rule gets built
- It goes to every camera
- Published, it watches alone
- And then it fires
Next step
When does a bad review get decided?
15 cases: 11 raise an alert when something happens and 4 only measure. You see each image as it is, and then with what IRIS understands on top.
Who is watching a whole quay at three in the morning?
14 cases: 13 raise an alert when something happens and 1 only measure. You see each image as it is, and then with what IRIS understands on top.
And the best part
Whoever is on duty already has a job.Watching forty screens does not fit into the shift.
No shift has time to spare. IRIS watches all forty at once and brings only what needs to be seen, with its camera and its time. What happens next is that person’s call.
Tell us your problem and we will say whether IRIS understands it, or not yet.
We reply the same working day.