Counting is not the same as understanding movement
A crossing count tells you how many people used a crosswalk. An origin-destination survey tells you where they came from and where they were heading — and that is what determines whether your infrastructure matches the desire line or fights it. In an enclosed space such as a station concourse, a subway or a transport interchange, OD data is the difference between widening the corridor people actually use and widening the one that looked busy.
Survey types
- Origin-destination matrices between defined entry and exit points, by time period
- Crossing counts at signalised and unsignalised crosswalks, including compliance and non-compliance
- Desire line mapping against provided infrastructure, which is where the mismatch usually shows
- Flow rate per metre width for level-of-service and Fruin-style density assessment
- Directional split, and counterflow conflict points in bidirectional corridors
- Group composition where it changes capacity — buggies, wheelchairs, luggage, mobility aids
- Gate line, stair, escalator and lift loading in interchange environments
Manual observation, and why we still prefer it here
Pedestrian environments defeat most automated detection. People stop, reverse, cluster, walk in groups, and occlude each other constantly. Manual observation from video handles all of that, distinguishes a person waiting from a person walking, and does not silently drop the crowded periods that matter most. It is slower and it is more accurate, and in pedestrian work the accuracy is the whole point.
Where this data goes
Station capacity assessments, interchange redesign, public realm and pedestrianisation schemes, crowd movement and egress planning, retail footfall benchmarking, and the pedestrian sections of a traffic impact study. Outputs are supplied as OD matrices, flow diagrams and time-series volumes with your own naming for each gate and node.
Frequently asked
How do you track someone from entry to exit without following them?
Trained observers match individuals between screen positions on synchronised video using appearance and timing, in short overlapping sessions. It produces an OD matrix without any tracking technology or personally identifiable output.
Can you survey inside a station or private interchange?
Yes, with the operator's permission and their CCTV or your own installed cameras. Enclosed environments are where OD survey work delivers the most, because entries and exits are finite and countable.
What is a pedestrian level of service?
It grades a walkway by how much space each person has and how freely they can move — from free flow to constrained shuffling. It is derived from the flow-rate-per-metre and density figures we report.
Get a price for pedestrian od surveys
Send the site details and the periods you need counted. We will come back with a fixed price and a delivery date, usually the same working day.