The tourist bus zones of Barcelona, located near landmarks such as the Sagrada Família, Montjuïc, and the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, operate as reserved areas for tourist coaches managed by Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B:SM). Until now, the existing reservation service enabled digitalisation but limited efficient control of occupancy and public space use due to the lack of automation. To address this, and with the aim of improving traffic flow, optimising public space, and increasing revenue from this tourist activity, B:SM and Barcelona City Council are promoting a project to automate the tourist bus zones.
The objective of the project is to automate three key elements of bus zone management: occupancy control (number of buses parked and detection of unauthorised vehicles), occupancy identification (which specific buses are parked), and people counting (determining the number of people using the bus zone services).
The design includes the installation of 29 panoramic cameras for people counting and 35 Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) units. The project also implements video analytics technology integrated into B:SM’s Video Management System and defines the technical requirements of the necessary equipment and its location.
To control occupancy and identify parked buses, the project foresees the installation of 35 ALPR units, both at the entrance and exit of the bus zones. By calculating the time between entry and exit readings, the ALPR system determines the number of parked buses and identifies them.
For people counting, 29 panoramic cameras are to be installed, using specialised artificial intelligence (AI) activated once an ALPR confirms that a bus is parked. The project defines the pixels per metre required in the images to ensure the AI can perform the count with minimal error.
Ultimately, the development of this project ensures accurate real-time counting, optimises traffic flow, and improves public space management, while reinforcing both the revenue and sustainability of the service.
