Discover how to objectify the uses of a square, a street or an urban park thanks to reliable attendance data, to manage your facilities and services.

Public spaces

Why do we often make mistakes about the use of public spaces

“This square is always crowded.” “Nobody uses this bike path.” “The park is saturated on weekends.” These statements are regularly heard in consultation meetings, municipal councils and public debates. They seem obvious to those who formulate them, based on daily observation and personal experience. However, when confronted with objective data, they often turn out to be false — sometimes dramatically. Our perception of the use of public spaces is systematically biased by well-identified cognitive mechanisms. Understanding these biases is not an academic exercise: it is a condition for avoiding costly diagnostic errors in the design and management of public spaces.

What indicators to pilot a mobility policy?

Local authorities are investing massively in active mobility: bike paths, greenways, pedestrian facilities, self-service bicycle services. But how do you know if these investments are producing the expected effects? Elected officials legitimately demand measurable results. Technical services need indicators to adjust their actions. Funders require quantified balance sheets. However, the choice of indicators is often approximate: we measure what is easy to measure rather than what is relevant to manage. This article proposes a methodological framework for building a coherent system of mobility indicators, which makes it possible to pilot public policies rather than simply describing them.

Can we really measure the number of visitors to a public place?

The question seems simple. A natural park, a public square, a greenway, a museum, a train station: how many people frequent these places? But behind this apparent simplicity lies a methodological complexity that managers of public spaces often underestimate. Measuring attendance is not just about counting visits. First, you need to define what you are measuring, choose a method adapted to the context, understand the limits of this method, and interpret the numbers carefully. This article explores the different measurement approaches, their strengths and weaknesses, and proposes a framework for thinking of attendance measurement as a management tool rather than as a quest for an absolute number.

Why territories lack data on uses (and why it's a problem)

Each year, local authorities invest billions of euros in infrastructure, facilities and public services. However, a significant part of these decisions are still made on the basis of intuitions, rough estimates, or fragmentary declarative data. This paradox — demanding budgetary rigor while accepting blind management — is not inevitable. It results from identifiable structural causes, which produce concrete consequences on the quality of public investment. Understanding why territories lack data on the real uses of their spaces and equipment is a prerequisite for getting out of this situation.

In-ground sensor vs aerial sensor: which one to choose for counting bicycles and pedestrians?

On bike paths, greenways and hiking trails, two main families of sensors compete to measure attendance: buried systems, placed under or in the pavement, and aerial sensors, mounted on a mast or on an element of urban furniture. These two approaches differ profoundly in terms of installation, maintenance, accuracy, and total cost. Choosing between one and the other is not a question of raw performance: it is above all a question of context, field constraints and long-term data strategy. This article compares the two families of solutions to help project owners, communities and space managers to make the most appropriate choice for their project.

February 16, 2026

Camera or thermal sensor for traffic counting: which solution should you choose?

Measuring attendance has become a strategic tool to justify public developments and funding. However, when choosing a technology, confusion often persists between video systems (cameras) and thermal sensors. This article deciphers the fundamental differences between these two approaches: GDPR impact, hidden installation costs and real reliability in the field, to help you arbitrate objectively.

February 11, 2026

Where to install an attendance meter? Method, checklist and mistakes to avoid

Location, height, direction, width, mixed flows: follow a simple method and avoid frequent mistakes to obtain reliable data with a Verdilo sensor.

January 16, 2026

White paper — Measuring the use of public spaces without constraints

How to collect useful data without work, without cabling and with respect for privacy: benefits, overview of methods and start-up checklist.

January 12, 2026

Measuring the impact of soft mobility and vehicles

Residents were complaining that the greenway might not be useful. Attendance monitoring makes it possible to demonstrate its usefulness.

January 8, 2026

Analysis of commercial attendance at the intermunicipal level

As part of the Action Cœur de Ville program, the Communauté de communes Chinon Vienne et Loire relies on Kiomda meters to analyze the pedestrian and bicycle traffic in its commercial centers. The data makes it possible to objectify the attractiveness of the various sectors, to inform the decisions of elected officials and to support retailers in their choice of location, based on concrete and comparable indicators.

January 8, 2026

Measuring the attractiveness and attendance of the oldest botanical garden in France

The Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier, created in 1593 at the request of Henri IV, is the first botanical garden in France. Located in the heart of the University of Montpellier and attached to the Faculty of Medicine, it welcomes nearly 500,000 visitors every year, divided between individual audiences, cultural and scientific events, and university activities. With such a diversity of visits and challenges that are both educational, scientific and environmental, it was essential for the garden management to have accurate figures in order to: monitor and understand the overall attendance of the site and its seasonal evolution, analyze the impact of events on visitor attendance and experience, analyze the impact of events on visitor attendance and the experience of visitors, strengthen security management and the preservation of biodiversity, by identifying the most stressed areas and adapting measures to protect fragile plants, promote the site to institutions and partners by putting forward concrete figures on its attractiveness.

January 8, 2026

Passage meter: definition, uses and selection criteria

Measuring site attendance has become a central issue for many public and private actors. Whether it is a city center, a natural area, a bike path or a site welcoming the public, having reliable data on flows makes it possible to better understand uses, to anticipate changes and to base decisions on facts rather than on impressions. This is precisely the role of the passage counter. Behind this relatively simple term lies a key tool for the observation of territories, which is still sometimes misunderstood or reduced to a simple counter. In reality, its usefulness goes far beyond that.

January 2, 2026

Pourquoi les données de fréquentation sont-elles essentielles pour la planification urbaine durable ?

Why is attendance data essential for sustainable urban planning?

Faced with the challenges of ecological transition and urban attractiveness, local authorities have a growing need to objectify their decisions. However, if there is one data that is still too often absent from planning, it is that of the actual use of public spaces.

Compteur piétons

What if the data were used to bring residents back?

We often think that data is used to manage tourists. But they can also make it possible to give back a place to local users in natural areas.

The use of data from counting pedestrians and cyclists in cities

As cities evolve to become smarter and more sustainable, data plays a crucial role in urban planning. Pedestrian and cyclist counting data is particularly valuable for designing and managing urban spaces effectively. By accurately measuring the flow of pedestrians and cyclists, Kiomda counters provide essential insights to improve mobility, enhance quality of life, and optimize urban infrastructure.