Tokyo Metro Co. has added a new feature to its free smartphone app to show the level of congestion in each car on the Marunouchi and Ginza subway lines, aiming to help reduce the risk of coronavirus infections spreading aboard trains.
The subway operator plans to make the service available for all of its lines by the end of this fiscal year.
Special cameras installed at stations photograph trains from the side, and the collected images are analyzed by artificial intelligence software that identifies four levels of congestion. The AI can send the data around 10 seconds after the train's departure from each station.
Cameras are installed at multiple locations on each line. Congestion aboard trains at stations without cameras will be estimated based on such data as the number of passengers who passed through the ticket gates.
The system has been under development since 2018 with the aim of easing congestion on the Tozai Line. As a growing number of passengers are eager to avoid congestion, especially amid the pandemic, Tokyo Metro has decided to install the system on all of its lines and advance its development.
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