Optimal time interval of information update using by exit-choice system to improve pedestrian evacuation efficiency

Abstract

In the case of emergency evacuation of large places, the rapid evacuation of pedestrians has always been a matter of great concern. However, research on pre-movement behavior and decision-making fatigue behavior of pedestrians in emergency evacuation situations is limited. In order to study how to improve evacuation efficiency under the introduction of exit-choice system, this paper uses the cellular automata model to simulate different exit arrangements and exit numbers at different time intervals of information update by the system. It is found that there is an optimal time interval of information update when three exits of a room have different widths, and the evacuation time significantly reduces compared to real-time update. The potential mechanism of the optimal time interval of information update is that the evacuees can be reasonably allocated to each exit, so that the passage capacity of each exit can be maximized, and the evacuation time is significantly reduced. Sensitivity analysis shows that the change of exit location has an important influence on the evacuation time. The different pre-movement times of pedestrians have a certain degree of influence on the evacuation time of real-time update. The different distance parameters and flow parameters had a significant impact on the evacuation time in the real-time update case.