Moynihan Train Hall Ushers In the Future of New York's Legendary Penn Station

The Client

An iconic transportation epicenter of the big apple. After experiencing through the many decades, inception, popularity, destruction, and resurgence, in 2021, the sprawling grounds underwent its most significant facelift and reimagining.

Championed by its namesake Senator Patrick Moynihan, the opening of “Moynihan Train Hall” at New York’s Penn Station, was in need of a technology infusion that matched its lofty goals to reclaim prominence as a focal point of both local and international travel.

22Miles Interactive Wayfinding and contactless touch solutions were sought out to provide visitors and travelers from all over the world a rich, intuitive, and multi-lingual digital experience to enhance the robust architectural and operational allure of the new facility.

The Challenge

The new Moynihan Train Hall is filled with odes to the old Penn Station, but needed a fresh modernizing and updating of the entire facility intended to reclaim its status as “America’s front door.”

While the look and architecture of the facility invoke a combination of “Classic” and “Cutting-Edge,” with massive parabolic skylights serving as a welcome illuminated contrast to the old Penn Station’s darker more underground ambiance; Moynihan needed more than just a fresh new look. Major carriers like Amtrak are operating trains in the new Moynihan Station, multiple levels housing retail shops, eateries, the subway, and major transportation ports all present travelers with options and accessibility, but also the challenge of quickly navigating and interacting with it all.

Moynihan’s curators realized that with thousands of people moving around the station daily, the station would need a sustainable way for individuals to get to their destinations quickly and without difficulty. The new facility also demanded a diverse solution that complimented how travelers use technology like mobile devices, voice-command, GPS & wayfinding, while also meeting the hygienic and logistical challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The overarching requirement was that Moynihan was seeking a technology that could be adaptive to the changes both known and unknown that could affect travel and tourism in the future.

The Solution

Having recently won awards in 2020 for the Protection-as-a-Service suite of solutions which encompasses touch-less screens, interactive wayfinding, secure mobile control of new or existing digital screens on mobile devices, and thermal scanning software, 22Miles offered Moynihan a fresh infusion of dynamic and diverse technology, integrated into a solutions suite that was easily customized to the unique needs of the reinvigorated New York city transportation hub.

Moynihan features interactive wayfinding displays that feature more than 10 language input options including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Arabic. With a population as diverse as New York City, not to mention thousands of international travelers moving through the station daily, these flexible linguistic integration options were designed to serve the multi-cultural flow of individuals, while making everyone feel welcome and catered to.

Additionally, Moynihan’s 22Miles installation also features full ADA compliance from elevators and accessibility alternate routes, as well as a digital magnifier, screen adjustments, and an operation index.

Moynihan also features 22Miles’ Secure Mobile Control system, which allows contactless control of screens on a user’s mobile device. In a post-pandemic world where viral spread looks to be an issue even after vaccinations have become more common, the technology provides a fully touchless experience as users can operate the screen they are interacting with from their cell phone via a digital mouse curser.

The solution requires no user downloads or extra steps, as a user can simply scan the provided QR code on each kiosk home screen which then allows for activation of a web link to accept the SMC controls. The QR codes are dynamic and encrypted, alleviating any concerns for meeting security protocols. Voice command interaction can also be easily added should Moynihan want to further the options for safe, hygienic interactivity.

At the center of it all sits 22Miles 3D interactive wayfinding, spread across twelve 4K touchscreens positioned throughout Moynihan Train Hall, ensuring that everyone gets to where they need to go, quickly, efficiently, and safely. 22Miles centralized visually dynamic screens give passengers, visitors, and officials everything they need, served in an increasingly interactive and intuitive way.

When idle, the screens serve up advertisements to passengers, while waiting to be indulged by touch-free devices. The screens serve up what users need, displaying everything from wayfinding to specific carrier data such as Airtran information, routes and destination points to JFK, LGA and Newark airports, alongside train and travel schedule information including:

Automated rotational advertisements
Interactive Wayfinding
Amtrak Travel Feeds
Interactive maps of the New York Area
Events Calendars, Activity and “To-Do” information

The Results

Moynihan travelers and visitors can enjoy fully interactive 3D navigation around the massive station, get instant access to critical information on departure times, destinations, city routes, local tourist attractions, and local transportation including subways, taxis, and more. Users can interact their way, in a safe, hygienic, and personalized method using their own mobile devices, intuitive screens, or even voice command capability in the future (if activated).

The train hall’s administrators have instant access and visibility to engagement data, serve up advertisements, infotainment, news and weather, and serve up advertisements to generate revenue and increase traffic for the facilities in the station and around the city at popular tourist destinations. The powerful adaptive functionality of 22Miles PublisherPro. AioT software gives the station the flexibility to customize the user journey, and maximize administrative goals while providing quality data to inform key decision-making initiatives.

Meanwhile, users can experience the most technologically advanced 3D wayfinding features like pinch and zoom technology, screen flip and display options, digital magnification, and much more.