Modeling lane formation in pedestrian counter flow and its effect on capacity

For the development of a sustainable transportation system, a modal shift from automobiles to walking or transit is encouraged. In order to design a more convenient and comfortable walking environment, a sound modeling of pedestrian flow is necessary. Most of the previously developed pedestrian flow models well described the macroscopic features of unidirectional pedestrian flow. However, in pedestrian counter-flow, interactions among conflicting pedestrians are so complicated and existing flow models fall short in explaining some features of pedestrian behaviors. A spontaneous lane formation, which helps to reduce conflicts and increase travel speeds, is a commonly observed feature of a crowded pedestrian flow. This paper develops a social-force based pedestrian model, which can explain the lane formation phenomenon. From the simulation results, it turns out that the ‘following effect’ and ‘evasive effect’ mainly contribute to the lane formation. Higher capacity and travel speed are obtained when pedestrians are more congregated.