Modeling the effects of entry restriction on crowd dynamics for dual-exit bottleneck

Abstract

It is essential to model the crowd movement considering complex building structures coupling different psychological perceptions. To model the interaction between individual perception and surroundings, a perception floor field cellular automata (PFFCA) is proposed in this paper. Here, the forerunners imitation behavior is introduced into the traditional FFCA to explore the influence of motion similarity (MS) perception of dual-exit bottleneck on passing efficiency. It is found that the MS perception works effectively when pedestrians move toward dual exits. The simulation shows that the entry restriction (i.e. partition fence) shortens the average passing time by forming a “transition area”. The phase transitions of specific outflow and crowd density under different fence lengths are investigated, to examine the effectiveness of partition fences in facilitating the usage efficiency of varying exits. The simulation is in accordance with a recent observation. These conclusions are summarized by a comprehensive assessment, which is applicable for practical improvement of dual-exit bottleneck.