Exploration of pedestrian side preference behavior with circle antipode experiments: analysis, simulation and implication

Abstract

Conflicts between crowds are considered to be critical sources of safety incidents, and choosing a side is a common strategy for conflict resolution. Here, circle antipode experiments, which create significant conflicts and symmetric scenarios, were applied for the investigation of side preference behaviors. In the experiments, more participants (around 70%) preferred to reach the destination from the right side. The statistical analyses revealed that the pedestrian side choice involved a sophisticated mechanism, while factors such as handedness, gender, and height had no significant impacts. Further empirical investigations showed that most pedestrians actually make their side choices at the beginning, and selecting the dominant side can improve the individual movement efficiency. To reproduce realistic side choice results, a Voronoi-diagram-based model with a normally distributed side preference parameter was formulated and calibrated, and the simulation results proved the feasibility of the modified model in circle antipode experiments and other common situations.