Experimental study of individual and single-file pedestrian movement in narrow seat aisle

Abstract

Narrow seat aisle is an important part of vehicle car interior, and previous studies on pedestrian dynamics in such area is still insufficient. To improve this situation, experiments of individual and single-file pedestrian movement were performed. Discussions were carried out from the aspect of walking speed, headways distance, and fundamental diagram. It is shown that walking speed of individual pedestrian grows exponentially fast to an asymptotic value as aisle width increases, and the width of 0.40 m is wide enough to allow a smooth walking. In the single-file movement, pedestrian walking speed can also be affected by headways distance and the predecessors. Also, existence of inactive pedestrian interferes the pedestrian flow, slowing down the flow rate or even causing a jam. Moreover, linear fitting models introduced in this paper, which link the motion of individual and single-file pedestrian, are able to well predict the movement speeds. This study will provides reference for the safety design of similar seat area in vehicle cars.