The Safest Escape problem

In this paper, the Safest Escape (SEscape) problem is defined for providing evacuation plans for emergency egress from large buildings or a geographical region. The objective of the SEscape problem is to determine the set of paths and number of evacuees to send along each path such that the minimum probability of arrival at an exit for any evacuee is maximized. Such paths minimize the risk incurred by the evacuees who are forced to take the greatest risk. The problem is considered in a dynamic and time-varying network, where arc capacities are recaptured over time, arc traversal times are time-varying and arc capacities are random variables with probability distribution functions that vary with time. An exact algorithm, the SEscape algorithm, is proposed to address this problem. Journal of the Operational Research Society (2009) 60, 1749-1758. doi:10.1057/jors.2008.122 Published online 3 December 2008