Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) will implement a system for passenger profiling that will be supported by artificial intelligence (AI) as part of its project to improve the transportation experience.

A data analytics platform is being developed jointly by Kochi Metro and Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology.

By deploying AI cameras at the stations, all metro users will be profiled based on gender and age. AI cameras would also be used for general monitoring, including identifying lost luggage and determining the number of people arriving.

According to KMRL managing director Loknath Behera's statement to Times Of India, specialized AI cameras will be placed at the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates. Cameras equipped with facial recognition technology could identify the gender, age, and even commuters' school or college uniforms.

"The project is an industry-academic collaboration aiming to provide better facilities to the commuters," Jaison Paul, the principal investigator of the project and vice-principal of the Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, told The Times of India.

"To help, we are using innovative open-source technology. With the help of AI cameras, we will deliver commuter data on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis, he said, adding that the system also has a predictive module that expects the number of passengers in the coming weeks. In the ongoing first phase, we are giving predictions for one to two days. With the advanced analytics, we can give predictions for two or three weeks," he added.

According to Paul, the AI-enabled data analytics will aid Metro in accurately classifying commuters and analyzing the foot traffic at each station during peak and off-peak hours.