A day in the life of Grand Central Terminal by the numbers

Grand Central Terminal’s grandeur is apparent when set against the backdrop of its 100-year history in one of the most vibrant cities in the world, but there is also a beauty in the tiny interactions and seemingly mundane movements that take place there every single day.

It is the largest station in the world in terms of number of tracks and platform. On an average day, more than 750,000 people pass through the terminal and an estimated 10,000 people come to have lunch without ever stepping on a train.

The Grand Central Partnership, a nonprofit organization born in the mid-1980’s to manage the 70-square-block surrounding the terminal, keeps track of where and when pedestrians are entering the building from the street.

Here are some of the highlights from the December 2012 Pedestrian Counting Report:

• The busiest entrance for pedestrian traffic is at 5th and 46th street.
• The entrance at 38th and 5th is the busiest in the terminal after 6pm with a total of 232,432 counts.
• The busiest day of the week is a Thursday when an estimated 794,457 pedestrians enter the building.
• The station is busiest between the hours of 2 – 6 pm.
• The quietest entrance to the terminal is at Lexington and 43rd at all hours of the day.
• Between the hours of 11 am – 2 pm, an estimated 477,345 people enter the terminal at 5th and 46th street. This is more than ten times the average amount of visitors to the Empire State Building in one day.

The Wall Street Journal posted a time-lapse video, created this week, to mark the terminal’s centennial celebration.