Modeling Heterogeneous Pedestrian Exit Selection Decisions in Subway Platform Evacuation

Abstract:
In this paper, we focus on the exit selection behavior of heterogeneous pedestrians in subway platform evacuation when hazards occur. Potential energy field is proposed to describe the pedestrian’s shortest path finding behavior and to drive pedestrian’s movement from their current positions to target exits. Considering the degree of conservativeness, acceptable bottleneck-zone density and patience, we construct a real-time weighing decision model for heterogeneous pedestrians from three aspects: pedestrian movement, exit decision-making and exit decision-making adjustment. The impact of location of the hazard and radius of the hazard on the evacuation efficiency are investigated by analyzing the simulation data of the station evacuation under diverse scenarios. Finally, suggestions are provided for the station's safe evacuation evaluation and evacuation plan formulation.