Through Participate Southbank community consultation in 2022, Southbank residents and Southbank Safety and Security Committee (SSSC) members shared their concerns on the high volume and range of transport modes using Southbank Promenade. Concerns were centred on how the speeds of cyclists and e-scooters could impact the safety of pedestrians.

To better understand the problem, we worked with the Southbank Residents Association (SRA) and installed a sensor to capture data at the intersection of Southbank Promenade, Southgate Avenue and Evan Walker Bridge. The sensor – Artificial Intelligence Road Survey or AIRS – uses Artificial Intelligence to analyse video footage. Artificial Intelligence helps differentiate the different modes of transport and converts their actions into X/Y coordinates.

Data collected helps us understand the flow of users, their speed and behaviours, and their peak travelling times. All footage is discarded after analysis.

Learn more about the sensor in ‘The technology’ or reach out to learn more at smart.cities@melbourne.vic.gov.au.

This project helps us understand:

• the number of pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooters using this thoroughfare, particularly during peak transit times
• the speed of travel through the area
• the busiest times and days for each mode of transport

The data will also inform transport and open space planning.

We will collect and review the data over a period to understand if the sensor leads to valuable insights. We will share any insights from the collected data with the community.

Stay tuned and revisit this page as we continue to update it with project details.

Click ‘Follow’ to get notified about project updates. You can also reach out to us with any comments or questions at smart.cities@melbourne.vic.gov.au.

VivaCity Artificial Intelligence Road Survey sensor (AIRS) - a pedestrian and bike sensor that uses Artificial Intelligence to analyse video footage. The different modes of transport are converted into X/Y coordinates, which are numbers that represent specific locations on the Promenade. This helps us understand numbers of users, speeds of travel and peak times of activity. Learn more in ‘The Details’.

• Types of transport modes (pedestrian, bicycle and e-scooter).
• Transport mode counts and peak times.
• Speed of movement.

Data collected helps us understand the flow of people along Southbank Promenade and ascertain the different transport modes used. For example, it tells us when the space is busiest, the speeds reached by different modes of transport (whether this presents a safety issue), and if there are opportunities to improve or adapt movement through the area.

The VivaCity AIRS sensor will use 4G networks to send data. The data is sent to City of Melbourne’s data lake in AWS Australia.

The data will be used by City of Melbourne to understand how users are currently moving through Southbank Promenade, and to provide insights into the opportunities and impacts of this usage. The data will be shared with the community soon.

No video footage captured by the AIRS sensor is stored or transmitted. The only data that is stored and transmitted is X/Y coordinates created from on-site analysis of the footage. This data is stored permanently for future analysis and the video footage is discarded once analysed.