There are many locations where occupancy can be measured. Some are more favourable than others. Typically, locations where there are plenty of people (high flow) who stay in the location for a considerable time (high occupancy and dwell time) will yield accurate occupancy data. An example of this type of location could be a mall, shopping centre or airport departure zone.
Locations where pedestrian flow is high, but people are only passing through for a short time, may have modest occupancies and low dwell times. Transport hubs can exhibit this behaviour as people move through the space quickly. These locations can suffer from occupancy inaccuracies that are significant relative to the true occupancy.
Leisure and work venues, such as offices, casinos, coffee shops and clubs, can have low flows and variable occupancies, but have long dwell times. These locations can yield good occupancy results, especially if the counter can be located for maximum accuracy.
Small stores typically have low flow, low occupancy and low dwell times. This makes reporting occupancy challenging as any small error will be obvious when compared to the true occupancy. Very accurate counters are required to minimise the occupancy error.