Case Study: Arup enhances Grand Central Station passenger experience with Oasys MassMotion

Future performance assessment of Grand Central Station-42nd Street Subway, New York City using Oasys MassMotion

Arup worked with Oasys Software to support New York City Transit’s Subway Enhanced Station Initiative at Grand Central-42nd Street Station, where ageing infrastructure, congestion, and poor sightlines made it difficult to assess how planned improvements would affect passenger experience and flow. The team needed a way to understand the future performance of the station’s mezzanine and communicate the design from a more human perspective, using Oasys MassMotion to model crowd movement and station use.

Oasys Software’s MassMotion was used alongside VR, 3D modelling, lighting, acoustics, and wayfinding tools to create an immersive simulation of the finished station. This let Arup test signage, identify congestion points, and review how people would move through the space from an agent’s point of view before construction began. The result was a more realistic, user-centric design review for a station serving about 400,000 passengers a day, helping inform design decisions to improve flow, safety, and overall passenger experience.

Arup

James Rimington

Senior Designer