Pedestrian Engineering
The phrase ‘Pedestrian Engineering’ initially sounds like the minimization of a field of study. In fact, pedestrians are far from banal but the most dynamic element of the urban environment. Designing for the pedestrian is not simply a matter of widening sidewalks or connecting dots with bridges or tunnels. Considering the future of New York (or any City), Pedestrian Engineering can result in a more fluid, safe and comprehensible environment. 
New York City has recently shown great leadership in this practice. Separating grades to make access safer for pedestrians with the Highline and enhancing the public realm by separating the multitude of functions that the ‘traditional main street’ has come to bear in dense urban environments as in Times Square (see Urban Answers Case Study Map.) In this way, New York can now begin to truly integrate transit and street life, specify appropriate site specific land use, program, urban design and deliver on urban revitalization and sustainability. Connecting the Highline to the West Side Ferry Terminal turns a great public space into an excellent transportation link. Imagine getting on a ferry in New Jersey and walking to Chelsea in 15 minutes without crossing a street!
Quantifying the Pedestrian Experience
For generations traffic engineers have been quantifying and predicting traffic behavior with modeling techniques and analyses to maximize vehicular throughput and improve safety on our roads and highways. Pedestrian modeling is a relatively new technique as it is far more complex to predict human behavior than vehicles.
The implications of Pedestrian Engineering are economic social and physical in nature allowing for improvements to the urban environment that facilitate pedestrian flows for day to day, emergency evacuation or peak event scenarios.
Knowing how pedestrians will behave in a given environment (indoors or out) saves money on infrastructure investments, improves Levels of Service and safety as well as give investors and decision makers a clear sense of how a site/project will function without making costly investments in the field after the design and construction process.
Elements of Pedestrian Engineering:
· Predicting human behavior from concept through construction.
· Staging operations, maintenance and protection of pedestrians, signage and way-finding.
Pedestrian Engineering Results:
· Safer, more comfortable, internationally comprehensible and universally accessible public spaces.
· Appropriate sidewalk, bridge and tunnel widths, vertical circulation, traffic calming and physical improvements to stations, hubs, event venues and streetscapes.
