Visitor guidance of tomorrow: CroMa-PRO project launched
- In this interdisciplinary research project, DLR is developing an effective crowd management system for major events together with the project participants Eventbande GmbH, D.LIVE and the Jülich Research Centre.
- To this end, the researchers will analyse and optimise visitor flows using scientific computer simulations.
- Focal points: Traffic control, simulation, visitor guidance
Visitor management of tomorrow: The joint pilot research project CroMa-PRO focuses on the simulation of visitor flows at large-scale event venues such as the MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA in Düsseldorf. The aim of the interdisciplinary research project is to sustainably improve visitor flows during major events. It also aims to create an optimised planning basis in terms of traffic routing and visitor guidance for arrival and departure processes at major events. The project will be applied directly at the UEFA EURO 2024 football spectacle, where visitor flows will be simulated in advance on the so-called "last kilometre" - the last kilometre from the transport options to the event venue.
Exciting synergies through project team from the event industry and research
CroMa-PRO builds on a long history of research activities by the project participants in the field of event safety and simulation. With Eventbande GmbH and D.LIVE, experts in mobility and safety conceptualisation have joined forces in the network. This expertise is complemented by researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in the field of traffic flow simulation. The interdisciplinary collaboration between the individual project participants creates exciting synergies with results that are both empirically sound and practically tested. "An interdisciplinary project like this is a great opportunity to learn from each other in a practical context, to put familiar processes and measures to the test and to develop them further," says Christian Löper, Project Manager Eventbande GmbH and CroMa-PRO network coordinator.
Direct practical application during the UEFA EURO 2024 in Düsseldorf
Based on the simulation, certain initial scenarios are observed and analysed, such as certain bottlenecks in the routing to car parks, at the venue or individual admission uses, depending on the weather and traffic situation. Individual packages of measures are coordinated with the stakeholders of the UEFA EURO 2024 host city.
Project with prospects
"The aim of the project is to be able to use a tool to advise and improve the ability of those involved in event planning to take action. CroMa-PRO stands out in comparison to previous research projects," says Hauke Schmidt, Executive Director Safety Management. "It should be possible to transfer the project results to other stadiums and events. In this way, the project makes it possible to recognise interdependencies between measures in the areas of mobility and safety and to react to interactions and undesirable side effects at an early stage," continues Hauke Schmidt.
To ensure coordinated interorganisational cooperation, the simulated security-relevant scenarios and measures are evaluated in workshops among the project participants involved in the pre-planning of events, thus improving the users' ability to act. "The UEFA EURO 2024 matches are a scientifically exciting use case. In the past, evacuation scenarios were primarily analysed. Now the focus is increasingly on simulating movement patterns on arrival and linking pedestrian dynamics with transport by public transport," explains Jette Schumann from Forschungszentrum Jülich. "By taking this overarching view of the traffic system and pedestrian flows in the simulation, we are supporting more targeted analyses of potential bottlenecks, conflicts or risk areas when travelling to and from major events," adds Ronald Nippold from DLR.