In addition to these cables, other devices are used to measure traffic. For example mini-cameras. It is this type of measuring device that is currently at the center of the call for volunteers “Telraam Charleroi Metropolis”. An initiative launched by the AwAC (Walloon Air and Climate Agency), in partnership with Charleroi Métropole and the ASBL MOBILESEM.
The call concerns the inhabitants of 11 municipalities: Charleroi, Momignies, Beaumont, Lobbes, Chimay, Erquelinnes, Thuin, Sivry-Rance, Merbes-le-Château, Fontaine-l’Evêque, and Montigny-le-Tilleul. They are invited to install a mini-camera at their window, as long as it overlooks a busy road. The device will record speed, and unlike road cables which only relate to vehicles, these cameras will also analyze the movement of pedestrians and cyclists.
As Xavier Desguin points out “All the data collected will be anonymous. They will allow us to determine what type of infrastructure to install so that everyone can circulate in good harmony with the others. But also sometimes to put in place traffic calming measures”.
It should be noted that the police can also, at the request of local residents, install traffic analyzers. Devices that record average and maximum traffic speeds, without flash and without verbalization. But the alderman specifies all the same: “If we find that, for example, more than 25% of the traffic is speeding, then we can decide to install traffic speed bumps, chicanes, prevention signs, … And if despite these measures it is not enough, then the police also have repressive radars.
All the information and the registration link for this call for volunteers can be found on the website of Charleroi Metropolis.