Self-Organizing Pedestrian Movement

Dirk Helbing, Péter Molnár, Illés J Farkas and Kai Bolay
Additional contact information
Dirk Helbing: Institute for Economics and Traffic, University of Technology Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
Péter Molnár: Center for Theoretical Studies of Physical Systems, Clark Atlanta University, James P Brawley Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30314, USA
Illés J Farkas: Department of Biological Physics, Eötvös University, Budapest, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1A, H-1117 Hungary
Kai Bolay: Tripod Inc., 160 Water St., Williamstown, MA 01267, USA

Environment and Planning B, 2001, vol. 28, issue 3, 361-383

Abstract: Although pedestrians have individual preferences, aims, and destinations, the dynamics of pedestrian crowds is surprisingly predictable. Pedestrians can move freely only at small pedestrian densities. Otherwise their motion is affected by repulsive interactions with other pedestrians, giving rise to self-organization phenomena. Examples of the resulting patterns of motion are separate lanes of uniform walking direction in crowds of oppositely moving pedestrians or oscillations of the passing direction at bottlenecks. If pedestrians leave footprints on deformable ground (for example, in green spaces such as public parks) this additionally causes attractive interactions which are mediated by modifications of their environment. In such cases, systems of pedestrian trails will evolve over time. The corresponding computer simulations are a valuable tool for developing optimized pedestrian facilities and way systems.

Date: 2001
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirb:v:28:y:2001:i:3:p:361-383

DOI: 10.1068/b2697

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