Mapping traffic flows

It was a bit of a shock when the request from New Zealand came in, but by now the Telraam team is familiar with exotic locations in North and South America and in Australia. International citizens face the same problems as the residents of Leuven, the city where it all started for Telraam - they want objective data on the traffic flows in their city or street.

Telraam started as a pilot project in 2019, and now, just five years later, we can speak of national and international success. How do you explain that?  

Kris Vanherle: "One of the reasons for this success is undoubtedly the low entry barrier; our sensor is relatively simple and inviting to install. In 2019, it was still a Raspberry Pi device, but now we have a specially designed sensor that citizens can start using immediately. Moreover, we have noticed that the enthusiasm of some traffic experts in blog posts or on X and several articles in international media like Forbes have certainly contributed to our traction. Telraam is the brainchild of two Leuven-based organizations: Transport & Mobility Leuven (TML), a traffic engineering firm and spin-off of KU Leuven, and Mobiel21, an NGO focused on citizen participation in mobility. In the early stages, Telraam was a pilot project, but the growth and the citizen science element led to us functioning as a separate entity in January 2021. You could call us a spin-out of a spin-off."

Traffic culture

Mapping traffic flows is something cities and municipalities in Flanders have been doing for several years, often using black cables across the road. How does Telraam differ from these traditional measurement systems?

Kris Vanherle: "The main difference lies in the citizen science component. By having the measurements in a city or municipality carried out by the citizens, you create engagement and dialogue. Telraam is a neutral instrument; the data are the essence, but thanks to the involvement of citizens, you also include them in the process, such as in drafting or correcting a circulation plan, installing a school or bike street, and monitoring roadworks. The tool has the advantage of allowing you to monitor before and after an intervention. For cities and municipalities, it truly is a win-win situation. Telraam is more affordable than traditional systems, and citizens are involved in the policy-making process. The ambition is for citizen experts to become a driving force in discussions and debates about mobility policy, enabling a people-centered traffic culture."

To what extent does Telraam remain involved in the analysis of the data, for example, in a project commissioned by a city or municipality?

Kris Vanherle: "We stay very closely involved. When we collaborate with local authorities, we deploy 10, 20, 50, or even 100 measuring devices. We train volunteers who can work with the data, and we keep the network active to ensure continuous monitoring of the traffic situation. Our after-service is an essential part of Telraam projects. We intervene if a sensor needs to be replaced, provide support to the volunteers, and interpret the data through a dashboard. This way, we engage in community management. We are traffic experts ourselves and understand which data are important for professionals, so we can filter the essentials. This service is a necessary and very significant added value of Telraam. However, you should not underestimate the citizens' knowledge of the real situation. For instance, during measurements on a street, we noticed an unexplained influx of cyclists at a certain point. Initially, you might think of a sensor error, but upon inquiry, it turned out that cyclists were meeting there every Tuesday at 11:00 am."

The next generation

How do you see the future of Telraam?

Kris Vanherle: "Outside the international circuit, there is still potential in Flanders with municipalities and cities seeking monitoring with guidance, and interest is also high in the Netherlands. Moreover, we are already working on a next-generation sensor and an outdoor device. In any case, due to the fact that both sensors and communication protocols have become cheaper, the path is open for new applications where citizen science is a key element. In our view, citizen science is not just a gimmick or an end in itself, but a method that can lead to scientific insights. The data collected by citizens are scientifically valuable and prove useful in traffic analysis, as well as in air quality monitoring, healthcare, and earth observation."

Telraam originally started with project funding but now operates mainly independently, thus consolidating the citizen science project. Would you recommend this approach for other citizen science projects?

Kris Vanherle: "Absolutely. At the start of a citizen science project, project funding is almost indispensable. It is thanks to European, Flemish, or Interreg funds that a project can take its first steps. The startup phase is the toughest hurdle. In that sense, it’s a shame that many projects are not sustained, that no sustainable model is developed, and that no efforts are made to scale up. Both scientific insights and opportunities for dialogue with citizens are thereby lost."

Quick adaptation

It's striking how Telraam emphasizes the efforts of the citizens. Do you have any advice in that regard for other citizen science projects?

Kris Vanherle: "At Telraam, we believe you need to pamper the citizen, you must ensure their efforts pay off by developing good protocols, for example. Nothing is worse than a volunteer thinking they have high-quality data when it ultimately proves worthless - that situation is enormously counterproductive. On the other hand, you must also realize that citizen science is difficult to control in advance; there is never a shortage of volunteers, and you might get 50 or 5000 volunteers signing up for your project. In that sense, you sometimes need to scale up immediately. Quick adaptation is a great asset, and that's something we've understood well at Telraam."