The Many Roles of the Relaxation time Parameter in Force based Models of Pedestrian Dynamics

In force based models of pedestrian traffic, the relaxation time, ?, is related to the time it takes a pedestrian to adapt its motion to its preferences. An example of this is linear acceleration, but ? is also connected to how the agent adjusts to spatial variations in its preferred velocity, and affects evasive maneuvers. These many roles of ?...

Influence of Group Size and Group Composition on the Adhered Distance Headway

Research into the influence of groups on pedestrian flow dynamics has been limited. Previous research found that group size influences the walking velocity of pedestrians within the group and as such the capacity the pedestrian infrastructure. This paper's aim is to provide quantitative insights into the influence of group size and composition...

Anticipation Behavior Upstream of a Bottleneck

Whether pedestrian movements do or do not follow similar patterns as vehicular traffic while experiencing congestion is not entirely understood. Using data gathered during bottleneck experiments under laboratory conditions, the phenomenon of anticipation before entering congestion is studied. This paper provides proof that the movement behavior...

Exploring the Relationship of Exit Flow and Jam Density in Panic Scenarios Using Animal Dynamics

There are few studies investigating crowd dynamics in panic situations. They used measures such as exit flow rate to explore the exit performance in evacuation scenarios. However, there is limited research exploring the relationship of exit flow rate and density behind the exit for panic scenarios. This study presents a macro level analysis to...

Optimal crowd evacuation

This paper deals with the optimal allocation of routes, destination, and departure times to members of a crowd, for instance in case of an evacuation or another hazardous situation in which the people need to leave the area as quickly as possible. The generic approach minimizes the evacuation times, considering the demand dependent waiting times...

Crowd movements during exceptional events