Pedestrian flow simulations 

Through simulating the flows of pedestrians or crowds, people’s movement in the facilities and the time required for each function can be tested already during pre-planning. Successful results support personal safety and smooth movement in the facilities and build a good reputation for the site. They also ensure customer satisfaction, whether for a sports stadium, train station or a shopping centre. 

Simulations help avoid errors in planning

The functionality of a building’s layout and pathways can be ensured through simulations at the drafting and pre-planning stages. Pressure testing the facilities helps designers avoid planning errors and modify the solutions based on users’ needs. In turn, this will be reflected in the site’s reputation, tenant satisfaction and, finally, resale value. 

Simulating pedestrian flows also allows the space to be used effectively. It ensures that sufficient physical space is reserved for all functions, but that solutions do not have to be over-dimensioned. This will help save in construction materials and costs at the implementation stage. 

Ensuring customer satisfaction

Simulating pedestrian flows also ensures customer satisfaction even during the planning. Thanks to the simulation, the pathways in a finished sports stadium will not be crowded even with a full house, and fans will have time to visit both the toilets and the sales stands during game breaks. Similarly, the customers of a shopping centre can effortlessly find the services they need and not get lost in winding corridors. 

A small investment in personal safety

When large crowds of people gather in a small area, it is always a matter of personal safety. As such, simulating pedestrian flows is a small investment in people’s well-being and safety early at the pre-planning stage. 

In practice, simulations can ensure that people can maintain a safe distance from each other in a shopping centre, the security checks at an airport run smoothly, and the escalators at a train or underground station are dimensioned for full passenger capacity. Similarly, at a football game or similar sporting event, it can be ensured in advance that the spectators can leave the stadium as quickly as possible in an emergency. 

Software and implementation

We use the leading software in the industry, PTV Viswalk, to simulate pedestrian flows and crowds. The only initial data needed is the information model of the site being planned. We also make use of our experience of how various groups of people behave. In the software, we set where the traffic flows to be simulated move to and from and how long it takes to serve one customer, for example. When setting the parameters, we also pay attention to the demographic qualities of the pedestrian flows as far as possible. Finally, the results of the simulation can be presented visually as videos.