Safety Research at the UEFA EURO 2024 in Düsseldorf
As part of the BMBF-funded project CroMa-PRO, simulation experts from research are working closely with event planning practitioners. Together they are testing the use of simulations for urban traffic and crowds in the planning of major events. One particular aspect of this is the investigation of the Last Mile - i.e. extensive traffic routes and pedestrian facilities leading to the event site, on which congestion can occur due to the event. Not only pedestrian streams play an important role here, but also the various means of transportation such as bus, train and car.
The work of IAS-7 focuses primarily on investigating the arrival behavior of event visitors and transferring this into simulations. Crowd simulations have already established themselves as a means of analyzing evacuation scenarios. However, the arrival process is far more complex, especially in combination with urban traffic. Different stages and waiting behavior must be considered. This raises questions such as: Which routes are chosen by visitors? At what points do they interact with traffic? At what time do visitors arrive? Are there measures to guide visitors? How do they react to them? And much more ...
In order to be able to examine the effects of the various influencing factors in more detail, we have integrated our JuPedSim pedestrian simulation software into the SUMO simulation tool, a software for simulating urban traffic, in close collaboration with the DLR (German Aerospace Center). Together with our partners from the field (Eventbande GmbH and D.LIVE ), we have identified relevant traffic and crowd management measures for the simulation and expanded the software and models accordingly.
The first major practical test was accompanying the EURO 2024 in Düsseldorf. Together with the project partners and further responsible stakeholders in Düsseldorf, we defined, simulated and evaluated relevant scenarios. Based on the simulation results, different arrival behaviors (e.g. due to the weather), fan walks and disruptions (e.g. failures of several trains) were discussed in several workshops. In this way, the project results were incorporated into the planning of the major event in Düsseldorf. This article provides a good insight into the cooperation within the interdisciplinary project team and the involvement in the planning of the EURO 2024.
The project allows us to learn directly from the challenges of event planning and crowd management and to take away corresponding impulses for the further development of the models and future research aspects. Further information on the project and media reports can be found at www.croma-pro.de.