{"id":18547,"date":"2022-11-24T08:41:05","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T07:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ptvgroup.com\/?p=18547"},"modified":"2025-07-22T11:56:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T09:56:04","slug":"pedestrian-simulations-times-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ptvgroup.com\/en\/modeling-planning\/pedestrian-simulations-times-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedestrian simulation in major Times Square construction project"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Pedestrian simulations can play a key part in major construction and renovation projects. On top of ensuring smooth flow of people and their safety, those simulations also ease the planning process. That is, they help planners get the green light to the projects from authorities \u2013 and from the public.<\/p>\n

Take for example One Times Square, an iconic New York City building, in which pedestrian simulations helped to launch a major redevelopment worth $500 million.<\/p>\n

The challenges for the project\u2019s planners were enormous: Times Square is the beating heart of the city. Any new development around it needs to balance the mobility and safety of millions of visitors, with the desire for robust economic activity.<\/p>\n

With help from pedestrian simulation, however, the project got the go ahead.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The Project<\/h2>\n

Built at the turn of the 20th<\/sup> century, One Times Square<\/a> is famed for being the former home of the New York Times, and later for hosting the world-famous New Year\u2019s Eve ball drop. Most visitors to Times Square recognize the structure, but its fa\u00e7ade is largely blocked by huge digital billboards.<\/p>\n

The current redevelopment, by real estate investor Jamestown, aims to open<\/a> much of the building\u2019s interior to the public. This includes the creation of a viewing deck, a museum experience, and commercial spaces.<\/p>\n

The project was launched at a time of sharp rise in tourism and pedestrian traffic in the area, as New York City rebounds from the pandemic.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”78px”][vc_single_image image=”18558″ img_size=”500×500″ add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Getting Government Approval<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”18565″ img_size=”500×500″ add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”92px”][vc_column_text css=””]The United States has a history of firm regulations and permitting for the development of new projects. It can often be murky to understand just how or what is needed to gain this approval, but it can \u201cmake-or-break\u201d projects in the millions and billions in the making.<\/p>\n

In major cities, like New York, it is the responsibility of the developer to prove to the city that their development will not significantly impact the surrounding area, before any construction is approved. With pedestrian traffic, it means a complex analysis.<\/p>\n

So, the developers turned to modeling with the PTV Viswalk<\/a> software, enabling them to gain the approval and launch the actual redevelopment.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Simulating the Pedestrian Experience<\/h2>\n

To assess how the project will affect pedestrian flow, Jamestown hired consultancy AKRF. “The repurposing of One Times Square would need to accommodate a significant amount of pedestrian traffic in the building, while ensuring elements outside the building – entrances, queueing lines, security checks, etc. – do not adversely affect the pedestrian operations in the adjacent plaza\u201d, says Michael Beattie, Vice President of AKRF.<\/p>\n

To model how pedestrians would flow through the building\u2019s entrances, 20 floors, and a viewing deck, AKRF used PTV Viswalk. \u201cWe needed a visual tool that illustrated for the client how the space would function, and account for pedestrian elements that impact one another\u201d, says Beattie.<\/p>\n

AKRF\u2019s PTV Viswalk simulation demonstrated how the experience, including all the pedestrian elements \u2013 elevators, stairways, hallways, doorways, etc. \u2013 could accommodate the projected visitor demand without causing bottlenecks or significant wait times.<\/p>\n

Work is now underway, and the developers expect the redesigned One Times Square to open to the public in mid-2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the analyses of space and movement, as well as native 3D visualizations within VISWALK, the team at AKRF were able to visualize the results of the project to their clients and the regulators\u201d, says Sean Fitzgerel, a senior account executive at PTV Group who accompanied the project, \u201cThis sets a precedent for analyzing buildings within the most complex and busiest city in the world.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”120px”][vc_single_image image=”18572″ img_size=”500×500″ add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Growing Need for Pedestrian Simulations<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”18579″ img_size=”500×500″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”132px”][vc_column_text]The One Times Square carries lessons for other redevelopment projects that affect people\u2019s movements.<\/p>\n

Globally, cities and governments are changing their vision<\/a> of future urban environments. Especially with lessons from the pandemic, authorities want to understand how people move and how they are affected in public spaces.<\/p>\n

More and more cities are proposing, designing, and building pedestrian-friendly<\/a> and mixed-mobility environments. They are looking for ways to understand the impact, and not just get an overview of an area, which what traditional methods of analysis give.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

How Developers Use Pedestrian Simulations<\/h2>\n

In projects like this, one of the most important components of pedestrian management and analysis is evacuations. There are many reasons for an evacuation, related to the size and type of location that you may be modelling.<\/p>\n

Planners used the routing and travel time analyses for scenario analysis, while \u201cevent-based\u201d scripting was used to implement custom plans. Viswalk\u2019s \u201cFire Dynamics Simulator (FDS)\u201d was used for fire simulations and other emergencies and evacuations.<\/p>\n

Fitzgerel, of PTV Group, points to several other PTV Viswalk functions that contribute to successful planning of projects like One Times Square:<\/p>\n