The development of pedestrian flow model

Abstract

This dissertation reported on the findings of the characteristics of the pedestrian

flows in Chinese New Year Eve Fair in Hong Kong and, the recommendations to its

crowd control measures. Since most of the pedestrian flow models were developed

for general purposes under normal condition, special models developed specifically

for major events such as bazaars, fairs and festivals in Hong Kong were required to

understand their pedestrian flow patterns. In this dissertation, pedestrian flows in the

Fair were videotaped and data was extracted for calibrating several pedestrian flow

models. These included the conventional models developed by Greenshields,

Greenberg, Pipes-Munjal, Underwood, Drake, Wong et al. and four modifications of

these models for simulating isotropic and bi-directional pedestrian flow scenarios.

The free flow speed of the pedestrians in the Chinese New Year Eve Fair was found

to be around 0.69-0.84 m/s, slower than those identified in other researches. Besides,

the results of these models showed the relationships between walking speed, density

and flow of the pedestrians in the Fair. Also, the effects of bi-directional flow to

pedestrian flows were assessed and quantified. These findings obtained from models

were then used as a basis for formulating crowd control strategy of major events in

Hong Kong.