Skip to main content

Software solution for pedestrian simulation

VisWalk from PTV is a pedestrian simulation tool specifically designed to assist railway station operators, city planners, architects and event managers in planning and coordinating their projects. The software allows planners to optimise pedestrian flows in and outside buildings.
January 31, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
VisWalk from PTV is a pedestrian simulation tool specifically designed to assist railway station operators, city planners, architects and event managers in planning and coordinating their projects. The software allows planners to optimise pedestrian flows in and outside buildings.

With VisWalk the capacity of railway and underground stations can be calculated, optimal walking routes for travellers identified, queuing behaviour at ticket counters assessed, evacuation analysis performed and shop locations analysed. During the planning phase it is also possible to use VisWalk to optimise railway station design based on these criteria. At the click of a button, the software tool visualises the simulation in 3D.

Software solution for pedestrian simulation According to PTV product manager Dr Tobias Kretz, a leading expert in pedestrian simulation, VisWalk models pedestrian behaviour like no other simulation software. "One of the special features is dynamic routing. Pedestrians, just as vehicle drivers, usually try to arrive at their destination as quickly as possible. Often the quickest route is very similar to the shortest route. However, there are situations where this rule does not apply. The simplest of which is when a large group of pedestrians is doing a u-turn," Kretz says.

"Therefore, VisWalk includes both shortest and quickest path routing in the simulation."

Related Content

  • Debating the future development of ANPR
    July 31, 2012
    What future is there for automatic number plate recognition? Will it be supplanted by electronic vehicle identification, or will continuing development maintain the technology's relevance? In recent years, digitisation and IP-based communication networks have allowed Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to achieve ever-greater utility and a commensurate increase in deployments. But where does the technology go next - indeed, does it have a future in the face of the increasing use of, for instance, Dedi
  • The real case for driverless mobility
    May 13, 2024
    What will automated driving really be good for? Bern Grush of Urban Robotics Foundation offers his thoughts on the big issues around its implementation - and suggests a newly-published book might point the way forward
  • Demand-responsive transport keeps things flexible
    July 20, 2023
    Mobility needs change: Elena Ziller of OpenMove explains why demand-responsive transport is emerging as a hot mobility trend – and why it’s not without challenges
  • Developing new detection and monitoring technologies
    November 21, 2012
    Established detection and monitoring technologies continue to evolve, but is it time to challenge their supremacy and take a serious look at less conventional ITS? Andy Graham considers the options with Jason Barnes. For ITS system providers, the most potentially lucrative markets over the next few years are going to be the BRIC (Brazil Russia India and China) group of countries, all of which are building many miles of new roads, applying tolling to existing ones (8,000km in China alone) and implementing w