Modeling the evacuation behavior of subway pedestrians with the consideration of luggage abandonment under emergency scenarios

Liye Zhang, Tianrun Wen, Dong Kong, Jukong Li, Leheng Li and Jie Song

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2024, vol. 189, issue C

Abstract: As subway systems play a central role in connecting various modes of transport, such as trains and airplanes, passengers with luggage cases have become common sight in subway stations. During emergency situations such as fires or earthquakes, passengers carrying luggage are likely to abandon their luggage to escape. However, the impact of abandoned luggage on evacuation remains unclear. Current research does not analyze the forces on pedestrians carrying luggage on a physical level and lacks knowledge of the interaction mechanism between luggage and pedestrians. Therefore, this paper constructs a comprehensive model based on an improved social force model that considers pedestrians carrying luggage cases, ordinary pedestrians, and abandoned luggage cases. It simulates a complete situation where pedestrians carry to discard luggage during an emergency. Through the simulation of Qingdao Station, we explore the impact of discarded luggage cases on pedestrian evacuation in subway bottlenecks and the interaction mechanism between luggage cases and pedestrians. The results show that strategies that involve the removal of luggage in areas of bottlenecks such as stairs, escalator entrances, and gateways have a significantly negative impact on the efficiency of evacuation. The key factors affecting evacuation efficiency are the appearance and dissipation of blockages due to accumulated luggage. The luggage carrying rate and abandonment rate are primary determinants for the occurrence of blockages. When blockages cannot be resolved, discarding luggage cases helps in evacuation. The removal of luggage cases increases the individual speed but decreases the overall evacuation speed. Compared to scenarios without luggage abandonment, the arching effect formed in those with discarded luggage cases is more complex and unstable.

Keywords: Subway stations; Emergency evacuation; Pedestrian behavior; Discarded luggage; Improved social force model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2024.103672

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