Mobile passenger counting

Know what counts

Automatic passenger counting provides cheap, reliable and permanent data on the degree of utilization of vehicles used in public transit systems (busses and trains). While providing data on the actual usage on various lines at various times of day and on different days of the week, the system facilitates operational planning with respect to individual transit lines and optimal use of capacities as well as billing for transit services rendered.


Ever since the early nineties, when the first electronic counting systems appeared on the market, IRMA (InfraRed Motion Analyzer) ) by iris has been the foremost system for intelligent passenger counting:

  • 75,000 sensors sold worldwide
  • Installed in more than 12,000 vehicles
  • Used in many cities, e.g. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Milan, Naples, Amsterdam, Montreal, Vienna, Salzburg, Gothenburg, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston or Sao Paulo

The right technology for every challenge

The IRMA passenger counting system can provide customized solutions depending on the set of requirements at hand.

IRMA BASIC
IRMA ADVANCED
IRMA 3D
IRMA MATRIX

IRMA: Systems description

All IRMA counting systems have sensors and analyzers.

IRMA counting devices were specifically designed for use in vehicles and work reliably even in rough operating environments (temperature, humidity, vibration). They are generally mounted above the door and if that is possible behind the vehicle cladding. Alternatively special sensor brackets for mounting below the door cladding are also available.

Each IRMA sensor contains two independent detection systems arranged in sequence, so that direction of movement may also be properly detected. Since the sensors, which are specifically designed for this application, provide a large detection range, a single sensor will suffice at a single leaf door. Two sensors are generally used for counting at wide double-leaf doors.

During a change of passengers the sensors detect a continuous stream of signals, which are forwarded to the analyzer. The analyzer automatically activates counting as long as the vehicle doors are open. This ensures that counting detects changes of passengers only and that movements of people on route cannot falsify counting results. The analyzer provides an interface (RS232, RS485, IBIS, J1708) for transmission of data to an on-board computer or ticket printer.