Influence of pre-bottleneck diversion devices on pedestrian flow

Abstract

Abstract The existence of bottlenecks often leads to the stagnation of pedestrian gatherings, which seriously affects the efficiency of traffic and reduces the flow of pedestrians. Some studies have shown that setting devices in front of bottlenecks can promote pedestrian evacuation under certain conditions. In this paper, the effect of setting diversion devices in front of the exit on pedestrian flow is studied. From our observation, these diversion devices can form a buffer zone before the exit and affect pedestrian behaviors. The evacuation times are found to decrease as the devices become farther away from the exit. In our experiments, it is found that the effect of shunt piles on evacuation is better than in the case of safety barriers and without device conditions. Under the condition of setting up safety barriers approximately 1 m and 3 m in front of the exit, the evacuation times are extended by 0.88% and 2.67%. For shunt piles, the evacuation times are 11.53% and 14.96% shorter than that of those without a device regarding the different distances to exit (1 m and 3 m, respectively). In addition, setting up shunt piles reduces the time interval between two consecutive pedestrians. To sum up, in our experimental settings, the diversion devices can effectively improve the average speed ahead of the exit and promote evacuation to become more orderly, which reduces the congestion in the later period of evacuation. In other words, this study demonstrates that a reasonable layout of facilities can not only meet the daily functional requirements but also improve the efficient use of space in emergencies, reducing the probability of crowd conventions and jams.