Rotterdam to launch app to track busyness of city centre

The city of Rotterdam is planning on launching an app in October so residents can check the busyness of parts of the city to determine if it is safe for them there. 

Rotterdam’s SpotR app

The so-called SpotR app will track the busyness of parts of the city centre in real-time, allowing app users to keep track of where is busy and where is quiet, and decide for themselves whether they feel safe going to that area. It is designed to reduce crowding in the city while the country is in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Rotterdam is the first municipality in the Netherlands to develop a pressure gauge app based on real-time data. If a part of the city is busy at a particular time, the app will give users an indication of when it will be quieter, or other less busy areas that they can go to instead. 

Coronavirus in Rotterdam

Rotterdam alderman for economics, Barbara Kathmann, says the city is doing everything it can to continue to function fully and efficiently while still in the grasp of the virus. She hopes the app will not only assist residents and tourists, but also local business owners: “We [can] help the Rotterdam entrepreneurs to keep their businesses running. Now more than ever, this is absolutely necessary.”

The city is currently, together with Amsterdam, one of the country's coronavirus hotspots. They put a number of measures in place in August in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, but, it was recently announced that the face mask measure will no longer be enforced.