WATCH: Keeping track of Robson Street pedestrian traffic

WATCH: A new program on Robson Street takes the guesswork out out of counting foot traffic for retailers. Ted Chernecki explains.

Two thermal counters installed on Robson Street are tracking pedestrian traffic to help local stores make better business decisions.

The counters use infrared technology to track movement and direction.

They respond to the heat emitted off people’s bodies to track foot traffic.

“There are no privacy issues because it is not a camera per se,” says executive director of the Robson Street Business Association Teri Smith.

Smith says the two counters, which are fairly inconspicuous, have been installed at 1045 Robson Street atop the Sephora store and the CB2 store in the 1200-block of Robson Street.

WATCH: Executive director of the Robson Street Business Association Teri Smith talks about monitoring pedestrian traffic on the famous shopping street on BC1.

The first camera was installed last May as a pilot project.

Smith says the data they collected was surprisingly accurate, and the decision was made to purchase another one and install it last October.

The data shows 17,000 pedestrians on average travel along Robson Street every day.

“During the busy season, which is from May to September on Robson, we typically see an average of 550,000 people per month with approximately 19,000 pedestrians daily,” says Smith. “Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest days with approximately 27,000 pedestrians a day.”

During the fall and winter, traffics slows a bit before it picks back up for the holidays, with Boxing Day being the busiest day tracked in 2014.

The Robson Street Business Association uses the data for internal purposes to measure activities, programs and initiatives planned.

But Robson Street businesses call them regularly and ask for data as well. Realtors also use the data to lure in perspective tenants.

“We are a little bit behind the trend,” says Smith. “This is happening all around the world. It happens in malls and inside stores. It is a way for us to measure what’s happening on the street and look at patterns and behaviors. I think this is the way that things are going.”

Smith says the counters are paid for by the members of their association.