A methodology for determining equivalent factors in heterogeneous pedestrian flows

Similar to vehicle traffic, pedestrian flow can also be classified as heterogeneous. This paper introduces the concept of equivalent factors for converting heterogeneous pedestrian flow into equivalent base flow derived from vehicle traffic methodologies. The methodology computes equivalent mixed traffic flow and uniform flow for the same performance measure. To account for both temporal and spatial variations in pedestrian characteristics, time-space (TS) occupancy is the performance measure employed. This measure can deal with diversities in both walking speeds and body sizes, which are the two factors identified to test the methodology for the proof of concept. A micro-simulation approach is used to generate input data for computation of the equivalent factors in lieu of collected data. Inputs for the micro-simulation models are derived from literature for comparison between simulation and empirical results. Results show the robustness of the methodology in taking into account pedestrian walking speed and body size differences. An application of the equivalent factors illustrates the importance of considering heterogeneity in pedestrian walkway design. This methodology can be adopted to compute local pedestrian equivalent factors from field collected data. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.