Case Study: Arup improves Fulton Center passenger flow with Oasys MassMotion

Arup streamlines Fulton Center transfers with Oasys Software, saving 30 seconds per commuter

Arup, the prime design consultant for New York's Fulton Center transport hub, faced the challenge of designing a station to serve 300,000 daily passengers. The project required simplifying access to nine subway lines and easing transfers while ensuring train services were not impeded and strict life safety egress levels were maintained. To understand complex pedestrian movements and resolve potential conflicts, Arup turned to its subsidiary, Oasys Software, and used the Oasys MassMotion pedestrian simulation tool.

The solution was the creation and use of Oasys MassMotion, a 3D crowd analysis tool born from this project. It allowed Arup to simulate realistic passenger flows, analyze dwell times, and reduce inherent "friction" in the legacy station layouts. The results were markedly improved train movements and radically reduced dwell times. This provided significant network-wide efficiencies, saving an estimated 30 seconds per commuter, which translates into a major value add given the 1.3 million people using the affected lines daily.

Arup