Asymmetric effect on single-file dense pedestrian flow

Abstract

In this paper, an extended optimal velocity model is proposed to simulate single-file dense pedestrian flow by considering asymmetric interaction (i.e. attractive force and repulsive force), which depends on the different distances between pedestrians. The stability condition of this model is obtained by using the linear stability theory. The phase diagram comparison and analysis show that asymmetric effect plays an important role in strengthening the stabilization of system. The modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation near the critical point is derived by applying the reductive perturbation method. The pedestrian jam could be described by the kink–antikink soliton solution for the mKdV equation. From the simulation of space-time evolution of the pedestrians distance, it can be found that the asymmetric interaction is more efficient compared to the symmetric interaction in suppressing the pedestrian jam. Furthermore, the simulation results are consistent with the theoretical analysis as well as reproduce experimental phenomena better.