Experimental study of pedestrian inflow in a room with a separate entrance and exit

Abstract

Pedestrian inflow process frequently occurs in various pedestrian facilities in our daily life. Great importance should be attached to the study of this process. In this paper, we explore the pedestrian inflow process in a room with a separate entrance and exit. Two kinds of experiments are conducted: experiment 1 has no inactive persons and primarily focuses on analyzing the features of the normal pedestrian inflow process and analyzing the representative spatial parameters in the steady state, while experiment 2 involves the influence of the inactive persons. In order to quantitatively discuss the distribution of pedestrians in the steady state, we adopt several analytical methods, such as the Voronoi diagram method, proxemics, and point pattern analysis. Some features of the inflow process are captured. The distribution of pedestrians in the steady state is not uniform. The proxemics and attraction to the exit are both considered to affect pedestrians’ distribution in the inflow process. The presence of inactive persons may have an impact on both the inflow and outflow processes. Practical suggestions are provided for the managers of pedestrian facilities.