  We study the validity of the dissipative Aw-Rascle system as a macroscopic
model for pedestrian dynamics. The model uses a congestion term (a singular
diffusion term) to enforce capacity constraints in the crowd density while
inducing a steering behaviour. Furthermore, we introduce a semi-implicit,
structure-preserving, and asymptotic-preserving numerical scheme which can
handle the numerical solution of the model efficiently. We perform the first
numerical simulations of the dissipative Aw-Rascle system in one and two
dimensions. We demonstrate the efficiency of the scheme in solving an array of
numerical experiments, and we validate the model, ultimately showing that it
correctly captures the fundamental diagram of pedestrian flow.
