Sydney Olympic Park to use AI technology to deal with big crowds

With in excess of 80,000 fans to descend on Accor Stadium for each night of Taylor Swift’s concerts, new AI technology will be used to help crowds move smoothly for the large event.

Staff at Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA) and Transport for NSW will be working behind the scenes on each of the four nights, acting as eyes in the sky to support crowd control at SOPA's high-tech Operation Centre.

The AI program combines features such as de-identified CCTV footage, weather data and social media to accurately predict crowd movements and mood around the stadium.

This will allow the team to prevent problems before they occur and implement a range of measures like opening more exits, redirecting people, giving live updates, deploying more staff or playing music to keep the mood up.

This will be the biggest test yet for the trial, which kicked off in 2023 as part of the NSW Government's $45 million Smart Places Acceleration Program.

The technology has been successfully used for other events including BBL cricket matches.

Signs with QR codes have been placed around the Accor Stadium for people keen to learn more about the technology and provide feedback.

The trial has been rigorously assessed under the NSW Government’s AI Assurance Framework to ensure the use of the new technology is ethical and real benefits are delivered to the community without compromising privacy or data security.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said, “With large events drawing crowds of more than 10 million visitors to the precinct each year, it’s important we use state-of-the-art tools to inform operations, keep people comfortable and avoid serious incidents.”

For The Eras Tour concerts, more than 1,200 extra public transport services will run across the four nights, including more than 700 extra buses and 550 extra trains.

Starting with Friday night's first concert, express trains will run from Central Station to Olympic Park Station every 8 minutes until 10:30pm, then every 5 minutes until 1:00am.

Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said, “These kinds of events are a huge test for our public transport network, and I want to thank Swifties in advance for their patience and understanding, and our frontline staff for their massive efforts.”