Modeling Pedestrian Flow On Campus Stairs By Using A Cellular Transmission Model

The aim of our study is to address the following issues:(1)reveal the typical behaviors and properties of pedestrian movement when going upstairs/downstairs;(2)Construct a pedestrian evacuation model to formulate the walking process of pedestrians in stair areas;(3)and verify the cell transmission model widely used in the two-dimensional walking space can also be applied to the three-dimensional staircase area.Firstly,an observation experiment was carried out to gain the pedestrian movement data in the process of going upstairs and downstairs.By collating the data,the relations between density and flow during the unidirectional processes of going upstairs or going downstairs,and the bi-directional process of going upstairs and downstairs,are drawn respectively.Then,by analyzing the fundamental diagrams,several characteristics of pedestrian movement in stair areas are revealed.Based on these characteristics,an extended cell transmission model is proposed.In this model,the potential correction coefficient is introduced to change the route choice of pedestrians using the influence of different directional pedestrians on the potential;the flow modification coefficient is introduced to describe the effect of physical parameters on the maximum flow at the opening between two neighboring cells;and the offset coefficient is introduced to correct movement rules and enhance the influence of preferential direction on pedestrian route choice.Further,simulations relied on the proposed model are conducted.Through comparing the simulation results and the experimental data,the model is calibrated.Once again,the calibrated model is employed to formulate the pedestrian movement in stair areas,and the sensitivity of the potential correction parameter is also discussed.Simulation results indicate that the proposed model can successfully reproduce the movement of pedestrians on stairs.Moreover,the route-choice behaviors of pedestrians can be directed by varying the values of the potential correction coefficient,which can provide us with important information for optimizing the evacuation process of pedestrians on stairs to reduce the risk of an accident,such as tramping and crushing.