Gateway

Inspiration

Eurostar proposed the problem of heavy congestion at their security check-ins, especially during peak times, thus having a negative impact on the customer experience as they are made to wait in line for extended periods. This leads to frustrated customers as well as cost overheads due to train delays.

After speaking to Eurostar experts, we realized there isn’t an existing system in place to manage the flow of people in an informed manner - currently, there are staff on-site to point you to a gate but they can only manage with what they can see. This lack of information results in inefficient allocation and a low throughput of passengers, ultimately leading to congestion.

To alleviate this issue, we devised a solution that places information in the right hands. We tackled this issue on two fronts:

1. An automated allocation system that assigns customers to a security gate based on the current congestion situation.
2. A real-time dashboard, providing station staff with more visibility on what’s happening on the ground.

What it does

Automated allocation system

• Assigns a ‘congestion rating’ to each passenger / group
• Based on key factors that have been determined using historical data such as: families, no. of baggage, etc.
• Upon checking-in, passengers are allocated to the right checkpoints based on this rating and the current congestion situation
• Alleviates the problem by distributing passengers in the most optimal way

Real-time dashboard

• Gives an overview of how congested each security lane is at any point in tie
• Provides greater visibility and granularity on the congestion situation in real-time
• Allow station staff to make more informed decisions and identify key bottlenecks
• Better resource allocation and planning

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• A graphical and simple-to-comprehend way of displaying key information to station staff
• Coming up with a meaningful and direct solution to a simple problem after numerous pivots

Challenges we ran into

• Analyzing the provided the data set to identify insights / key factors we could utilize
• Finding a concise yet interactive way of demonstrating our product

What we learned

• Reactive frontend development using React.js and React Native
• Approach to pitching an idea and compelling our audience

What's next for Gateway

• Improved granularity of presented data
• More extensive analytics tools
• Fine-tune models
• Integrate with Eurostar's existing systems
• Dynamic arrival times for passengers

Built With

• chartjs
• django
• react
• react-native