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Traffic Management
Impact analysis of pedestrian crossing
At Zurich main station in Switzerland, a pedestrian crossing had to be relocated because of construction work for a new railway line. ASE (Analysis Simulation Engineering) GmbH, a swiss based simulation and engineering company, was assigned to conduct a feasibility study of the planned pedestrian detour. Signaling of the traffic lights had be adjusted to the new detour in order to allow optimal coordination of motorized traffic and pedestrian flows.
The following questions had to be answered:
- How much will pedestrian density increase alongside the new detour?
- How much do travel times of pedestrians increase because of the detour?
- What impact on travel times, pedestrian density and motorized traffic is to be expected resulting from the signal frequency of traffic lights?
Based on several frequency measurements, ASE sampled key figures of pedestrian flows of todays situation. Firstly, a simulation odel depicting this situation was built, and based on measurement data the model parameters were calibrated and analyzed for accuracy.
Secondly, a simulation model depicting the planned detour was built and the simulation results were analyzed for the feasibility study. It could be shown that the detour of the pedestrian crossing, leaving traffic lights frequencies as today, doesn‘t state any problem. Travel times of pedestrians are only minimally affected.
If the frequency of the traffic lights has to be adjusted according to the shorter distance to the nearby „Landesmuseum“ crossing (40 seconds red light - 12 seconds green light), then the planned pedestrian crossing detour isn‘t realizable due to large pedestrian jams at the pedestrian crossing.
Simulating interaction of railway
passengers and shoppers
Railway stations are not only important transit facilities, but also shopping facilities with attractive shops. Ideally, passengers in transit and shoppers do not interfer inside railway stations.
Traffic Management
However, a simulation study of a middle-sized railway station in Switzerland revealed a significant disturbance of transit passengers by shopping pedestrians, crossing and interfering with passenger flows.
Consequently, constructional measures allowed to ease frictions between transit passenger flows and shoppers.
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