Contact name
Wouter Florizoone
Telephone number
+32485345070
Good Practice
Putting citizens in control of local mobility policy.
- Italiano
- English
Putting citizens in control of local mobility policy.
Initiative details
01/12/2019 to 30/11/2021
Organisation details
Telraam (Rear Window BV)
Enterprise
Please describe the main road safety challenges/problems you have addressed or are addressing.
Telraam helps out citizens, resident groups and local governments who want to gain knowledge on traffic in their streets and want to improve road safety by tackling traffic challenges that have a negative impact on liveability such as rat running, speed issues or the negative impact of circulation measures. Telraam is an affordable, precise, objective and scientifically supported tool which provides an insight into traffic volumes, direction of travel and average speed of cars.
Project activities
If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.
To date, we have worked with a wide range of partners who have an impact on road safety from different contexts, both at home and abroad.
Below, we give some examples per category and briefly describe their role.
- Local authorities: City of Brussels, City of Leuven, Province of Utrecht (Netherlands), Metropolitan Region of Liège, City of Ghent, City of Aalst, Municipality of Ameland (Netherlands), City of Halle, City of Mechelen, Municipality of Bornem, Municipality of Turnhout, Municipality of Lubbeek, Municipality of Hoeilaart, etc.
Their role: to commission a network of traffic counts, to link with policy vision, to work with the results on the ground.
- Various citizens' groups and local branches of cycling and traffic safety organisations such as Fietsersbond (Belgium), Vlaamse Stichting Verkeerskunde (Belgium), Veilig Verkeer Nederland etc.
Their role: provide cases, participatory interaction and feedback results, guidance and assessment.
- Schools and academic institutions such as KU Leuven, UCLL, University of the West of England - UWE Bristol, University College Dublin, University of Ljubljana, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel etc.
Their role: scientific underpinning, roll-out and implementation of teaching packages, expert guidance, etc.
- Research companies on mobility, traffic safety and planning: Mobiel 21, DLR Verkehr, Vectris, SUUNTA, Arcadis etc.
Their role: follow-up of data research to adjust mobility measures, integration in updating mobility plans, feedback with police and prevention officers, etc.
Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.
Telraam develops high-tech and reliable measuring equipment that is made available to interested citizens. They are helped to set up their own fully automatic traffic counters. Then they mount them in their front windows, and traffic counting can start. That, in a nutshell, is Telraam. All the collected counts are made available for policymaking and research, but also to all residents and interested parties.
The Telraam device is a combination of a Raspberry Pi microcomputer, sensors and a low-resolution camera. The device is mounted on the inside of an upper-floor window with a view over the street. To send the traffic count data straight to the central database, the device needs a continuous Wi-Fi connection to the internet. Since the device is electrically powered, it also needs a power outlet within reach.
All these project activities took place between 1/12/19 and 30/11/21.
List the actions you carried/are carrying out
Date
Friday, 10 June, 2022
Evaluation
What has been the effect of the activities?
Since the development of the Telraam device, we have more than 1850 active Telraam devices. The biggest networks are in Belgium, but there are networks internationally as well. With the communication of 1850 sensors and more than 40 networks, it reaches 100.000 European citizens in a direct way. Via press & communication, this is a multiple.
Our Telraam devices can have an impact on individual level, but as well on local and regional level. Telraam can transform a citizen into a real citizen scientist. By adopting a Telraam device you will actively contribute to solving everyday issues around you! On local and regional level it gives cities the opportunity to have an affordable but precise, multimodal traffic monitoring solution for their projects that can be deployed on a large number of locations.
Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.
We make it possible to make decisions based on objective data in an affordable and sustainable way. Because Telraam is such an affordable device, it is accessible for many towns and cities.
The success is mainly due to a combination of elements such as the interaction and engagement with citizens, the fact that the local government usually finances, the commitment from the local politicians that something will actually be done with the results and the accessible and simple way to install the device so that we can work in an inclusive way.
How have you shared information about your project and its results?
The data collected by Telraam is anonymous and openly accessible. We work in a framework of Open Data and transparency, where 100% of the collected unprocessed data is made available free of charge for private, non-profit and academic use. This data is accessible on our website.
For the dissemination of the results, we were invited to various national and international forums such as the Civitas Forum, the Flemish Road Safety Congress, Open Data Forum Manchester, and many others.
In addition, our message, based on concrete results and figures, was heard hundreds of times in various national and international media such as BBC, De Standaard, VRT, El Pais and numerous regional newspapers.
Supporting materials
