Rasen selected location for UK wide footfall project

Market Rasen is one of the 81 towns and cities taking part in a '˜unique and comprehensive' UK-wide study of footfall of Great Britain's high streets
Market Rasen's main street EMN-170515-125606001Market Rasen's main street EMN-170515-125606001
Market Rasen's main street EMN-170515-125606001

The study, called the SmartStreetSensor Project, uses cutting-edge technology which tracks WiFi enabled devices, such as smart phones, and registering them as people.

The project being conducted by West Lindsey District Council and the Local Data Company (LDC), in partnership with University College London and the Consumer Data Research Centre.

The LDC says the data is sent anonymously, analysed and stored in LDC’s data warehouse and presented via LocalDataOnline (LDO) which is LDC’s online dashboard.

The sensors have been extensively tested and the data is already being used by several retailers.

LDC say the motive behind the large-scale study is to ‘leverage our detailed knowledge of high streets and how they are changing.

A spokesman said: “The SmartStreetSensor Project will see the roll-out of over 1000 footfall sensors in 81 towns and cities across Great Britain.

“LDC has spent 18 months creating its own footfall technology, which tracks WiFi enabled devices passing a location as a proxy for people.

“The sensors have been extensively tested and the data is already being used by several retailers.

“This ground-breaking project will allow us to understand how our high streets are used, how they are changing and what actually impacts footfall patterns.

“The findings will then be shared with each participant.”

A spokesman for WLDC said: “At the moment we measure footfall manually - using staff to physically count the number of people who pass through a particular place at a particular time of day.

“This new system would allow this to take place continually, giving a much more accurate picture of town centre health in Market Rasen.”

WLDC said Market Rasen Town Council is looking into locations for sensors in Rasen.