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AnyLogic, utilized for active shooter scenario research by Adam Kirby, Ph D Student, and Dr. J. Eric Dietz, Professor at the Purdue Homeland Security Institute (PHSI), was showcased for the second time on WLFI - News 18 last Friday. Adam Kirby and Professor Dietz are using their work to encourage people to think scientifically versus emotionally when debating gun control. Watch the news clips.

To continue on the topic of pedestrian modeling: recently, I heard the news that the new terminal being built in the St. Petersburg airport will be tested using a free labor force, or in other words, volunteers. Actually, the volunteers will test the terminal’s operations and on-ground facilities by acting like passengers. It was interesting to find that the London Heathrow and Dubai airports are using this practice right now too. Here in St. Pete, they gathered more than 5,000 volunteers, to come to the terminal and walk around, jostle to check-in desks, race up the down-moving escalators, get bored in queues to passport controls, etc. I suspect that the volunteers will be watched by engineers, who will be counting the number of injuries per minute. That’s how airport authorities are going to see if everything is OK with the terminal.

How can an overpopulated city fight traffic congestion? Examples from many current metropolitan areas show that, apart from subways and buses, city railways can greatly improve traffic situations. Probably the most famous city rail system is the S-Bahn in Germany. In North America, one of the more well-known examples is the BeltLine in Atlanta, Georgia.