Collective Dynamics (E-Journal)
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Numerical and Theoretical Analysis of a New One-Dimensional Cellular Automaton Model for Bidirectional Flows
In recent years, research on mathematical models describing crowd dynamics has become increasingly important. Among this research, a two-dimensional mathematical model with the effect of body rotation describing bidirectional flows has been constructed, and its fundamental diagram has been shown to be qualitatively consistent with real experimental data from the perspective of flow rate inversion. However, this property has not been mentioned in one-dimensional mathematical models. In this paper, we introduce a new, simpler, one-dimensional cellular automaton model to focus on the direction of particles and the effect of flipping instead of body rotation by extending the well-known TASEP as a solvable lattice model. Our model was found to be qualitatively consistent with the actual phenomenon of flow rate inversion, both numerically and theoretically
Improving Pedestrian Dynamics Predictions Using Neighboring Factors
Predicting pedestrian dynamics is a complex task as pedestrian speed is influenced by various external factors. This study investigates neighboring factors that can be used to improve pedestrian walking speed prediction accuracy in both low- and high-density scenarios. Different factors are proposed, including Mean Distance, Time-to-Collision, and Front Effect, and data for each factor is extracted from different public datasets. The collected data at time t is used to train a neural network to predict the pedestrian walking speed at time t + ∆t. Predictions are evaluated using the Mean Absolute Error. Our results demonstrate that incorporating the Front Effect significantly improves prediction accuracy in both low- and high-density scenarios, whereas the Mean Distance factor only proves effective in high-density cases. On the other hand, no significant improvement is observed when considering the Time-to-Collision factor. These preliminary findings can be utilized to enhance the accuracy of pedestrian dynamics predictions by incorporating these factors as additional features within the model
Optimization of Evacuation Efficiency of Deeply Buried Subway Stations with Elevator Assistance
Due to a variety of intricate topographic structures, many subway stations are constructed deeply. Traditional stairs and escalators in deeply buried subway stations can hardly meet passengers' demand for highly efficient travel. Buried depth of the subway station, passenger flow intensity, percentage of passengers choosing elevator, and elevator characteristics such as rated capacity and rated operating speed of the elevator are factors affecting the evacuation time of passengers. In order to study the impact of these factors on the evacuation efficiency under the daily commute of passengers, deeply buried subway evacuation model with an elevator exit was established by AnyLogic. Three kinds of simulation scenarios were analyzed. The results shows that average evacuation time is positively correlated with the buried depth of subway when the elevator is not set. When the passenger flow intensity is large, the higher the percentage of passengers choosing elevator, the longer average evacuation time of passengers. Compared to the simulation scenario with a rated capacity of 15 passengers and a rated operating speed of 1 m/s, average evacuation time can be reduced by up to 81.9% when the rated capacity and rated operating speed of the elevator are 40 passengers and 11 m/s respectively. The research can guide the subway planner reference on evacuation planning for the deeply buried subway station
The Birth of a New BIM Standard: From PED 2018 to 2023, New Parameters and Workflows "Going Live" for Everyone
Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become the de facto standard for the digital representation of buildings. However, from the pedestrian dynamics perspective, BIM Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) schema specification do not fully support data properties required for two-way data sharing with pedestrian modelling tools. An international team of academic and industry researchers, supported by buildingSMART International (bSI), is developing an Occupant Movement Analysis (OMA) standard. The project is focused on expanding the IFC schema specification to support workflows for pedestrian simulation tools and is close to completion. So far, multiple process maps and a list of data properties synchronised with several representative pedestrian modelling tools have been produced. This list of data properties was then converted into bSI's recommended flexible and machine interpretable Information Delivery Specification (IDS) format for specifying data exchange requirements and to add clarity. Currently, this is undergoing testing and review by the project team. Once completed, it will be submitted to bSI’s committees for review. Also, to support this work, a prototype open-source Add-in has been developed to demonstrate a two-way integrated data sharing between BIM authoring tools and pedestrian simulation tools. This standard will enhance data sharing between BIM authoring and pedestrian modelling tools by facilitating the capturing of the required data and addressing friction in multiple design iterations and reassessment
Comprehensive Review and New Analysis Software for Single-file Pedestrian Experiments
This paper offers a comprehensive examination of single-file experiments within the field of pedestrian dynamics, providing a thorough review from both theoretical and analytical perspectives. It begins by tracing the historical context of single-file movement studies in pedestrian dynamics. Then, the significance of understanding the fundamental relationships among density, speed, and flow in pedestrian dynamics through the lens of simple single-file systems is explored in depth. Furthermore, we investigate various traffic systems involving human or non-human entities such as ants, mice, bicycles, and cars, and provide insights. We explore the types of experimental setups, data collection methods, and influential factors that affect pedestrian movement. We also define and explain the common concepts concerning single-file movement, particularly in experimental research. Finally, we present a Python tool named ``SingleFileMovementAnalysis'' designed for analyzing single-file experimental data, specifically head trajectories. This tool provides a cohesive approach to preparing and calculating movement metrics like speed, density, and headway. The article aims to stimulate further research and underscore the areas where future researchers can contribute to advancing and enhancing single-file studies
A Research on Pedestrian Wayfinding Behavior in Large Public Space Utilizing Non-immersive VR Platform
In this study, we conducted experiments to investigate pedestrian wayfinding behavior using a non-immersive virtual reality platform. We developed a route choice model that combines environmental factors and individual pedestrian attributes, employ-ing a hybrid Logit model. The dataset for pedestrian route choices is collected from partic-ipants’ walking trajectories within the Tianjin West Railway Station scenario. The results of our experiments demonstrate that the model effectively represents pedestrians’ route choices within the environment and exhibits strong predictive capabilities for wayfinding
The Effect of National Culture on Evacuation Response Behaviour: A Cross-Cultural Survey
Are there cultural differences and similarities in the way occupants respond to evacuation notifications? Evacuation response behaviour is characterised by the way occupants react to evacuation notifications to validate what is happening around them and prepare for evacuation movement. This study presents a cross-cultural survey based on a case study of a library evacuation to specifically explore how national culture - combined with cues and affiliation - influence evacuation response behaviour. A total of 585 adults from Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey and the United Kingdom participated in the survey. The main results show that for the three scenarios explored (1) UK participants perform significantly fewer response tasks than participants from the other countries, (2) participants from all countries first look around to see what is happening, and seek additional information as one of the first three tasks they perform, (3) Czech, Turkish and UK participants are more likely to wait for a friend/colleague in a scenario without cues than with cues. These results provide insights for safety practitioners and other stakeholders on the importance of cross-cultural research for evacuation behaviour and its inclusion in policy making and emergency preparation
Asymmetries in Group-Individual Collision Avoidance due to Social Factors
This research centers on analyzing frontal encounters between dyads (two-person groups) and individuals, aiming to measure each participant's role in avoiding collisions based on their deviation from their intended path. To achieve this, we establish the intended trajectory of each party by taking into account their walking direction leading up to the encounter. The largest discrepancy between this intended path and the observed path can be interpreted as the pedestrian's maximum lateral deviation.We show a noteworthy discrepancy in deviation between group members and individuals in face-to-face encounters. Furthermore, we conduct an in-depth analysis of how the intensity of interaction among group members impacts collision avoidance dynamics. Notably, the contrast in deviation between individuals and group members is most pronounced when the level of interaction within the group is high. Ultimately, our findings consistently indicate that higher levels of interaction lead to more substantial deviations in the trajectories of encountered individuals and underscore the significant role of social dynamics in influencing pedestrian behavior during frontal encounters
Understanding Crowd Responses to Perceived Hostile Threats: An Innovative Multidisciplinary Approach
People facing threat may evacuate, help others, share information, ignore the threat and the plight of others, or enact a combination of these behaviours. Accurate conceptual models of crowd behaviours must consider why and when these behaviours occur, as well as how people's responses may vary across different scenarios. Researchers have investigated crowd responses to threats using a variety of methods, such as interviews, observational analysis and virtual reality experiments. Each methodology offers benefits to understanding collective responses to threats, but each methodology also has limitations. Importantly, very little research has explored crowd responses in false alarm situations where crowd members misperceive that a threat exists. In this paper, we describe a new programme of work which combines approaches from safety engineering and crowd psychology to gain a thorough understanding of crowd behaviour in response to real and misperceived threats, and the processes underpinning the behaviour. We focus on how we identified and addressed the similarities and differences in our research questions, conceptual approaches to research, and methodological abilities. We demonstrate how our multidisciplinary approach provides a framework for combining diverse research methods that collectively build knowledge to create more accurate models of crowd responses to (mis)perceived threats
Estimating the Capacity of Railway Platforms and Stations
Knowing the capacity and the speed-density relation for different facility parts is a key component for a sustainable station design. But as the behaviour of pedestrians on railway platforms is complex, detailed data from railway stations is needed, which only became available recently. By using real-life tracking data from different railway stations in Switzerland, a method to estimate the capacity for different facility elements was derived and applied to the data aiming at verifying or improving the existing design values.
As expressed in the fundamental diagram, the speed-density relation was useful in addressing these issues. The speed-density-flow relation was plotted at different levels ranging from a whole platform section to areas covering only a few square meters. Waiting pedestrians were treated separately to reflect their specific behaviour. Afterwards, the Kladek-curve proposed by Weidmann was fitted to the data using different parameter values. Although the data is biased towards low densities, the capacity of each area can be estimated using the fitted curve.
The results show that the flow-density curves show a good fit to the mean of each density bin. Nevertheless, a large scatter of the individual data points exists. The derived maximum flow is considerably different depending on the measurement location and the area size and is generally lower than average values from literature. It is expected that the complex behaviour of pedestrians in railway stations and platforms has a significant influence on these differences, which therefore needs to be considered for station design