this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2024
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I think Google does this with your phone. I can see how busy various places are by looking them up on Google maps. Really useful for my local Costco.
So when is your Costco not busy? Genuine question as I have gone there mid-day during the week and it will still be packed. One day I went 30 min before close and the parking lot was still full.
There's busy and there's "checkout lines literally to the back of the store"
I've noticed usually in the middle of the afternoon, before 4. Otherwise you'll get the people who left early to go to Costco.
Weekends near the end of the day, oddly enough, usually are quiet as well.
I think you're correct, but wouldn't this only work if you are running either android, or google maps, and have location on?
Its accurate enough but still an estimate, is the point i am getting at.
Conceivably a webcam + opencv headcount would be more precise, if the cameras covered the whole space and could account for viewing the same person from a different angle.
Its like how google can give you an estimate of bus times, but if there is a local city app that specifically interfaces directly with the actually city busses, it'll be more accurate.
Your example with the buses is wrong. There is a standard called GTFS and public transport companies publish their fleet status and timetable according to this standard, Google just reads and displays this data. Nowadays you should see the same data in the official apps and gmaps. There are even foss solutions displaying the same thing like transportr.app
You can browse this data worldwide on https://www.transit.land
Well dang, I did not know that.
Thank you for correcting me!
Shh don't ruin a "viral" story
Doesn't work that well in my experience. A place that's mostly empty on weekdays often shows it's really busy during weekend evenings because it is, comparatively but it's not crowded or anything