Automated People Counter for Restricted Capacity Monitoring on Philippine Public Utility Bus

Abstract

The ability to inform transportation businesses and regulatory bodies about the demand for transportation services and how resources may be best deployed to meet this need is strategic to resource allocation and planning of national transportation system. Case in point, the pandemic has forced the government to reevaluate the number of utility buses and its ridership and implement various restrictions and regulations within society. One of the restrictions that is often affected is the seating capacity for Public Utility Vehicles. This study provides a proof of concept to an easier and more efficient way to be able to monitor capacity in a Public Utility Bus through the use of a people counter. Photoelectric sensors will be used to monitor the number of people entering and exiting the bus with information being uploaded to ThingSpeak while also being displayed onboard using an LCD. The system is capable of bi-directional counting through the use of two pairs of sensors and will work most accurately when the sensor pairs are at a distance of at least 12 cm from each other and passengers will board and depart in intervals of one second or greater.