Previous IQP Reports have tackled the problem of pedestrian congestion.

Post date: Sep 09, 2015 9:6:6 PM

From the project description assigned to our team I got a general idea of what our list objectives should encompass and a vague idea of how to reach those objectives. What surprised me is that after some research, I had taken pedestrian congestion in Venice for granted; however, I never took time to put myself in the residents' shoes and make an attempt to empathize. I assumed that the issues of Venice will become more apparent to me once I arrive on site and experience this congestion.

During an ID2050 presentation on a past IQP report, my group mate was giving an explanation about how the bridges in the city are not only narrow, but are also mostly comprised of stairs that go up and down to create space for boats below the bridge. Only then I was able to get a glimpse of how much traffic going up the stairs causes and I immediately pictured the public transportation system (MBTA) in Boston. I was surprised that only then I put together the facts presented by previous IQP reports on pedestrian traffic and got a glimpse of the physical implications of the issue. Other reports have discussed counting methodologies to acquire pedestrian data, and a few touched upon an automated approach. I am now even more motivated to contribute to this congestion problem and find a viable way for automated data collection.

Here is a photo of a generic bridge in Venice from the 2010 Report by Marcus Amilcar, Amy Bourgeois, Savonne Setalsingh, and Matthew Tassinari:

- Rigen