Modeling Movement Direction Choice and Collision Avoidance in Agent-Based Model for Pedestrian Flow
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 6
Abstract
Agent-based microscopic pedestrian-flow simulation models are promising tools for designers or engineers to evaluate the level of safety or comfort of crowded pedestrian traffic facilities. Existing models tend to simulate movement direction choice behaviors of a virtual agent based on a joint effect of several physical, psychological, and sociological factors dominating the real-world pedestrian walking behaviors. Challenging questions remain for this type of model, including how to control and balance the influences among these behavioral factors and how to naturally avoid collisions without losing the effect of the behavior factors considered. This article presents an improved utility-maximization approach to determine the movement direction of individuals in an agent-based pedestrian-flow simulation model. A new utility function is proposed. An explicit collision detection and avoidance technique is used as a supplementary rule together with the utility maximization method to improve the collision avoidance behaviors in the model. Simulation experiments are carried out for detailed analyses of agent-movement direction-choice behaviors under the influence of utility values and behavioral factors. It is shown that the new utility function can control and balance the influences among the behavioral factors better and avoid unrealistic direction choices. In addition, simulations of intersecting pedestrian flow based a real pedestrian flow experiment are designed, and simulation results are compared with the experiment results. The comparison demonstrates the improvements of using the collision detection and avoidance technique, and shows that well-configured simulations could be close to the experiment both qualitatively and quantitatively.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant from the Research Grant Council, Hong Kong SAR, China (Ref. CityU119011), a research fund granted by the Food and Health Bureau, Hong Kong SAR (Ref. 11101262) and the Collaborative Research Fund, granted by the Research Grants Council (Ref. CityU8/CRF/12 G). The authors would also like to thank the people who have shared the intersecting pedestrian-flow experiment data.
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Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 6 • June 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 28, 2014
Accepted: Oct 29, 2014
Published online: Jan 6, 2015
Published in print: Jun 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Jun 6, 2015
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