The effects of three environmental factors on building evacuation time

Building fires can be considered a risk to the health and safety of occupants. Environmental factors in building fires might affect the speed of an evacuation. Therefore, in this study participants (N = 153) were tested in an experimental design for the effects of (1) a fire alarm, (2) darkness and (3) the use of emergency exit signs on...

Influencing the queue configuration to increase bicycle jam density and discharge rate: An experimental study on a single path

Congestion in bicycle traffic is a daily occurrence at many urban intersections. It is known that a higher density in the queue leads to a higher discharge rate. In theory, higher jam densities than those currently observed in practice are feasible. This leads to our hypothesis that the delay at intersections can be further reduced when cyclists...

Using virtual reality to study pedestrian exit choice behaviour during evacuations

Exit choice is vital to pedestrians’ survival during evacuations. This paper presents the results of a VR experiment and a field experiment to study pedestrian exit choice behaviour during evacuations. Primarily, we compared pedestrian exit choice behaviour with a VR experiment and a field experiment to determine the ecological validity of a...

Empirical findings on infrastructure efficiency at a bicycle T-junction

In the pursuit of promoting cycling and providing better cycling infrastructure, its design is of great importance. One of the critical locations in a network are intersections, and specifically T-junctions, due to the inverted perception of priority. In this paper, we investigate the behaviour at T-junctions dedicated to cyclists and the effect...

Adaptations in driver behaviour characteristics during control transitions from full-range Adaptive Cruise Control to manual driving: an on-road study

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) can reduce traffic congestion and accidents. In dense traffic flow conditions and when changing lanes, drivers prefer to deactivate the ACC. These control transitions between automation and manual driving could impact driver behaviour characteristics. However, few studies have analysed the magnitude and duration of...

Pedestrian exit choice behavior during an evacuation - a comparison study between field and VR experiment

Understanding pedestrian exit choice behavior during emergency situations is important for improving evacuation efficiency. Virtual Reality is a promising technique that can be used to study pedestrian evacuation behavior. However, studies comparing evacuation behavior in real and virtual environments are still scarce. This paper explores...

Modelling decisions of control transitions and target speed regulations in full-range Adaptive Cruise Control based on Risk Allostasis Theory

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and automated vehicles can contribute to reduce traffic congestion and accidents. Recently, an on-road study has shown that drivers may prefer to deactivate full-range ACC when closing in on a slower leader and to overrule it by pressing the gas pedal a few seconds after the activation of the system. Notwithstanding...

Resuming manual control or not?: Modelling choices of control transitions in full-range adaptive cruise control

Automated vehicles and driving assistance systems such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) are expected to reduce traffic congestion, accidents and levels of emissions. Field Operational Tests have found that drivers may prefer to deactivate ACC in dense traffic flow conditions and before changing lanes. Despite the potential effects of these...

Empirical longitudinal driving behaviour in case of authority transitions between adaptive cruise control and manual driving

Automated vehicles are expected to have a substantial impact on traffic flow efficiency, safety levels and levels of emissions. However, Fields Operational Tests suggest that drivers may prefer to disengage Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and resume manual control in dense traffic conditions and before performing manoeuvres such as lane changing....

A revealed preference study on route choices in a congested network with real-time information

The past decades have seen an increased interest in the role of information as a tool to alleviate congestion. However, because the relationship between travelers’ behavior and information provision is not clear yet, the need for more experiments has been claimed in literature. From May 9th, 2011 to July 12th, 2011 a revealed route choice...

Everscape: The Making of a Disaster Evacuation Experience

Disaster evacuation studies are important but difficult or impossible to conduct in the real world. Evacuation simulation in a virtual world can be an important tool to obtain data on the escape and choice behavior of people. However, to obtain accurate “realistic” data, the engagement of participants is a key challenge. Therefore, we describe...

Capacity of doors during evacuation conditions

In this paper, we show how the capacity of evacuation doors is affected by the evacuation door width, population composition, the presence of an open door and evacuation conditions. For this, laboratory experiments have been performed. Varying door opening widths showed that only the experiment with the widest door opening (275 cm) resulted in a...

Emergency Door Capacity: Influence of Door Width, Population Composition and Stress Level

For the new version of the Dutch design guidelines for buildings, a threshold value for the capacity of emergency doors needs to be set. Innovative largescale laboratory experiments have been performed to investigate the capacity of emergency doors during evacuation conditions. This paper focuses in particular on the relation between capacity...