Numerical study of the effect of gender composition and partitioning boards on evacuation in a two-line transfer transit rail subway station

Abstract

Subways for transit rail can solve urban congestion problems. Many people use transit rail subways during rush hours. Taking Jinan Wangfuzhuang subway station as the research object, the influence of different gender compositions on the evacuation process was analysed and discussed in this study. The results show that the evacuation efficiency of passengers that include a high proportion of males in subway stations is higher than that for passengers with a high proportion of females with the same age composition. According to the field observation and numerical calculation results, congestion readily occurred at the subway station exits and automatic ticket gates, and partitioning boards are added to alleviate congestion. Adding partitioning boards at automatic ticket gates can shorten the evacuation time. The calculated critical length of a partitioning board is 1.5 m, and the evacuation time can be shortened by 9.6% compared with the case without partitioning boards. Additionally, the evacuation time can be shortened by installing partitioning boards at exits. The results show that when the length of partitioning boards at exits is 1.5 m, the critical distance between adjacent partitioning boards is 1.5 m, and the evacuation time can be shortened by 16.9% compared with the case without partitioning boards.