Manhattan Is for Walkers, and Other Data from NYC’s New Pedestrian-Tracking Tool

How New York is using data to let entrepreneurs see foot traffic before they set up shop.

A map of New York City showing rates of pedestrian foot traffic, with the darker the green indicating higher rates. Credit: Placemeter

This is your first of three free stories this month. Become a free or sustaining member to read unlimited articles, webinars and ebooks.

Become A Member

Shortly after Christmas, New York City unveiled Business Atlas, an online tool meant to help people who’d like to engage in a little local business figure out where to set up shop. The site is still a bit rough around the edges, and much of the data is what you’d expect from a municipal government — population changes, property values, new business openings, that sort of thing.

But one collection of information jumps out: foot traffic. In a city like New York, of course, it can matter a great deal just how many people pass by your place each day. It turns out that the city’s Office of Data Analytics partnered with the local star-tup Placemeter to gather the intel on rates of pedestrianism.

How did Placemeter get that data in the first place?

We use a proprietary blend of the Placemeter video network and third-party data sources to gauge pedestrian activity in the City per square meter, getting the resulting map above. The darkest green marks the highest pedestrian activity while the lightest green marks the least amount of pedestrian activity. So, when you want to open that gourmet rice krispies treat shop you can see how active the foot traffic is at one location versus another.

The company has a video showing, in simple terms, how its tracking tools work:

The company is also running a beta project wherein it asks people to “dig out your old, unused smartphone” and put it up in a window to track traffic. Placemeter will even send you a suction cup for mounting.

Government seems like a natural customer for what the company calls “the world’s first real-time dynamic data layer.” Of course, the prospect of tracking people’s movements in real time and then handing that information over to government raises, well, concerns. Placemeter has said elsewhere that its sensors don’t retain any sort of identifying information, but rather pass along raw numbers.

You’ll notice that the data both above and in Business Atlas isn’t enormously granular. All of the Upper West Side is, for example, treated as one place. Savvy city dwellers know that one spot on the street can be a location of death, while one caddy-corner is home to a thriving business. But one imagines that this is a challenge of scale more than anything else. With enough sensors, there’s no immediate technological reasons why — in a city as big as New York, at least — you couldn’t compile finer-tuned data on how humanity moves about.

Postscript: On the question of granularity, Placemeter’s David Fine emails to say that, as far as the company is concerned, its data can be drilled into much further — down, in fact, “to a square meter.” The city’s analytics team has opted, for now, to present the walk statistics aggregated up to the census tract level.

Like what you’re reading? Get a browser notification whenever we post a new story. You’re signed-up for browser notifications of new stories. No longer want to be notified? Unsubscribe.

Nancy Scola is a Washington, DC-based journalist whose work tends to focus on the intersections of technology, politics, and public policy. Shortly after returning from Havana she started as a tech reporter at POLITICO.

Tags: new york citysmall businessshared citybig datawalkabilitycivic techmappingstartups

×
Next City App Never Miss A StoryDownload our app ×
×

You've reached your monthly limit of three free stories.

This is not a paywall. Become a free or sustaining member to continue reading.

  • Read unlimited stories each month
  • Our email newsletter
  • Webinars and ebooks in one click
  • Our Solutions of the Year magazine
  • Support solutions journalism and preserve access to all readers who work to liberate cities

Join 1096 other sustainers such as:

  • Anonymous in Grand Rapids, MI at $10/Month
  • Mike in Roseville, CA at $10.00/Month
  • Davis at $10/Month

Already a member? Log in here. U.S. donations are tax-deductible minus the value of thank-you gifts. Questions? Learn more about our membership options.

or pay by credit card:

All members are automatically signed-up to our email newsletter. You can unsubscribe with one-click at any time.

  • Donate $20 or $5/Month

    20th Anniversary Solutions of the Year magazine

has donated ! Thank you 🎉
Donate
×