Realistic Simulation of a Random Pedestrian Flow

Abstract

Simulations may be used to evaluate the serviceability of pedestrian structures. A realistic analysis requires a sophisticated load model which considers the inter- and intra-subject variabilities in the walking parameters and the corresponding induced loads. For small pedestrian densities it is appropriate to assume that each person can cross the structure with its preferred walking speed. When the flow becomes denser, slower persons force faster persons to reduce their walking speed. The paper presents field studies on how persons adjust their walking parameters when the walking speed is set by a leading person. A simple probabilistic model is developed which allows a first simulation to study the effect of restricted walking on the excitation frequencies. Basically, the mean value of the step frequency reduces with decreasing walking speed.