Crowding in platform staircases of a subway station in China during rush hours

Abstract

Crowding during the morning peak hours at a platform staircase in a subway station in China was studied in this paper. Passenger flow was surveyed with normal evacuation time recorded. The evacuation process was simulated with the software buildingEXODUS. Predicted results on the total evacuation time and maximum flow capacity of the selected staircase were compared with the field observations. Two parameters, the width of staircase utilized per person and the maximum upstairs walking speed used in the software were identified to be noticeably different from the field studies. Predictions agreed better with the observations after tuning these two parameters. It is concluded that the evacuation simulation software can be applied for safety design with appropriate tuning on the key parameters through field tests.