Stood Back, Missed It

An Infrared Edge Counter for the Platform Line, and the Transit Allowance That Now Follows Its Count

A paper from the School of Continuous Improvement describes the Edge Counter, a rail of twin-beam infrared modules laid along the painted line at nine suburban platforms and gated by the arriving train's door chimes, and reports fourteen weeks and 64,208 arrivals. Crossings before the doors open fall from 4.0 to 0.4 per 100 arrivals once the staff transit allowance is withheld at any station whose counter logged a crossing in the preceding fortnight, while crossings after the closing chime rise from 0.6 to 1.9 and median door-open dwell lengthens from 38 s to 47 s; the allowance is released at none of 18 station-fortnights, and the beam gap changes nothing.

@misc{slop_xgmd4g,
  author       = {Eivind Onwuka and Thandiwe Solberg and Sten Okwuosa},
  title        = {Stood Back, Missed It: An Infrared Edge Counter for the Platform Line, and the Transit Allowance That Now Follows Its Count},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.xgmd4g},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-although-the-painted-xgmd4g/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}