Traversing the Labyrinth:

A Comprehensive Analysis of Pedestrian Traffic in Venice

Chelsea FogartyChemical Engineering ‘13

Geordie FolinasMechanical Engineering ‘13

Steven GrecoBiomedical Engineering ‘13

Cassandra StacyEnvironmental Engineering ‘13

Sponsored by:

• City of Venice

• Department of Mobility and

Transportation

In collaboration with:

• Cody Smith, Santa Fe Complex

• RedFish Group

Advisors:Professor Fabio Carrera, Ph.D.

Professor Frederick Bianchi, D.A.

Mobility Infrastructure

• Walkways averaging 2 meters wide

• 294 squares

• 433 bridges

• Limited infrastructure

– Hold capacity of 25,000 visitors per day

– 157.85 km of walkways

A greater influx of

tourists is

beginning to affect

pedestrian mobility.

Tourism in Venice Throughout the Years

In 2010:

● 20,000,000 annual tourists

● 55,000 daily tourists

Determined from information received from the City of Venice Statistics Office.

0

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

30,000,000

35,000,000

40,000,000

1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 2040 2060

Nu

mb

er

of

To

uri

sts

Overnight Tourists

Day Trips

Total Tourists

Expon. (Total Tourists)

Projected Tourism Trends

Effects on Venice

• Degrades Quality of Life

• Strains Infrastructure

• Safety & Security Compromised

Festivals and Holidays

• Carnevale

• Redentore

• Biennale

• Salute

Outliers Become Everyday Occurrences

Population levels during the

summer months and

holidays could become the

norm for everyday life in

Venice…

Managing Pedestrian Traffic

One way bridges

Deploying police

Temporary bridges

Barriers

Separate queues

Seasonal Actv lines

Close Piazzale Roma

to incoming cars

• Will need to be used

more frequently

• As peaks become

the norm so too will

preventive measures

• Need a way to

determine when and

where peaks will form

Managing Pedestrian Traffic

Solution: Pedestrian Model

• Traffic Predictions

• Allow for Preventive

Measures

• Interactive

Traffic Model centered about Study Area

Study Area

• Based on Tourist

Triangle

• Western San Marco

The Modeled Pedestrians

• Analyze the difference between pedestrian types and

behaviors

TOURISTS

VENETIANS

CHURCHES

Tourist DestinationsSanto Stefano

Santa Maria del Giglio

MUSEUMS

Tourist Destinations

Museo Correr

Museo Grassi

Museo Fortuny

PALACES

Tourist Destinations

Doge’s Palace

Tourist Types

Day Tourists

Origins

Tourist Types

Day Tourists

End of Day

Day Tourist Route

Tourist Types

Overnight Tourists

Origins

Tourist Types

Overnight Tourists

End of Day

Overnight Tourist Route

Venetian Destinations

WORK SCHOOL

Number of Employees in San Marco

14,146

Venetian Origins and End Destination

4462 Residents in San Marco

Venetian Route

VARIOUS SOURCES HAVE DATA

RELATED TO PEDESTRIAN TRAFFICLONG TERM PROJECT SCHEMATIC COMPILING AND COLLECTING DATA

USING THE COMPUTER MODELPREDICTING FUTURE

TRAFFIC

FILLING IN CURRENT

DATA GAPS

OUR

FOCUS