Acta Mathematica Scientia 2009,29B(6):15411555

http://actams.wipm.ac.cn

A REACTIVE DYNAMIC CONTINUUM USER

EQUILIBRIUM MODEL FOR BI-DIRECTIONAL
PEDESTRIAN FLOWS
Dedicated to Professor James Glimm on the occasion of his 75th birthday
Yanqun Jiang1 Tao Xiong1 S.C. Wong2 Chi-Wang Shu3
Mengping Zhang1 Peng Zhang4 William H.K. Lam5
1.Department of Mathematics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
2.Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
3.Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, U.S.A.
4.Shanghai Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
5.Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
E-mail: jyq2005@mail.ustc.edu.cn; jingt@mail.ustc.edu.cn; hhecwsc@hkucc.hku.hk;
shu@dam.brown.edu; mpzhang@ustc.edu.cn; pengzhang@ustc.edu.cn; cehklam@polyu.edu.hk

Abstract In this paper, a reactive dynamic user equilibrium model is extended to simulate two groups of pedestrians traveling on crossing paths in a continuous walking facility.
Each group makes path choices to minimize the travel cost to its destination in a reactive
manner based on instantaneous information. The model consists of a conservation law
equation coupled with an Eikonal-type equation for each group. The velocity-density relationship of pedestrian movement is obtained via an experimental method. The model is
solved using a nite volume method for the conservation law equation and a fast-marching
method for the Eikonal-type equation on unstructured grids. The numerical results verify the rationality of the model and the validity of the numerical method. Based on this
continuum model, a number of results, e.g., the formation of strips or moving clusters
composed of pedestrians walking to the same destination, are also observed.
Key words pedestrian ows; conservation law; Eikonal-type equation; density-velocity
relationship; nite volume method; fast marching method; unstructured
grids
2000 MR Subject Classication

76M12

Received October 22, 2009. The work described in this paper was jointly supported by grants from
the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (HKU 7183/06E), the
University of Hong Kong (10207394) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (70629001 and
10771134).
Corresponding author: S.C. Wong.

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Introduction

Walking is a sustainable mode of transportation that is environmentally friendly, highly

exible, and healthy, which also serves as an interface with motorized transportation facilities [1,
2]. However, there are inherent dangers associated with large-scale public walking facilities, such
as transfer stations, airports, and train and subway stations. Many tragic crushing incidents
have occurred around the world due to overcrowding in such facilities. For example, in Sheeld,
96 Liverpool fans were killed at the Hillsborough football grounds when police open gates to
alleviate crowding, and the Mena Valley disaster saw 251 Muslims killed in a stampede during
the annual Hajj pilgrimage [35]. In most such instances, the fatalities and injuries are caused
by the behavior of the crowd itself, and this issue is receiving increased attention from scientists.
Many crowd-ow models (e.g., [319]) have been developed to investigate the complex dynamics
and behavior of pedestrians in various situations.
A number of quantitative observations of pedestrian motion characteristics, including selforganization phenomena in pedestrian crossing streams and oscillations of the passing direction
at bottlenecks [4, 79, 12, 2022], have been successfully depicted by computer simulation
using micro-simulation models and by empirical or experimental research that makes use of
video analysis. In microscopic models, each individual is represented separately [23, 24]. These
include the cellular automation model [7, 8, 17, 25, 26], the social force mdoel [10, 11, 27,
28], and the lattice gas model [6, 2931]. Such an approach captures each pedestrians unique
situation well, such as his or her route choice, which are particularly well suited for use with
small crowds. Macroscopic models, in contrast, focus on the overall behavior of pedestrian ows
and are more applicable to investigations of extremely large crowds, especially when examining
aspects of motion in which individual dierences are less important.
The present research investigates the ux or density distribution and the impact factor
of the speed eect and path choices between two interactive streams of pedestrians, i.e., a bidirectional pedestrian ow, traveling on crossing paths in a continuous walking facility. Based
on the observation of groups of pedestrians with uid-like properties moving in a continuous
space, a continuum model is adopted to simulate pedestrian movement. One prior study [15]
provided a systematic framework for a dynamic macroscopic model without considering the
user equilibrium concept. In contrast to the predictive user equilibrium model [13, 14], the
reactive dynamic user equilibrium model describes the movement of pedestrians who do not
have predictive information when they are making a path-choice decision [19, 32]. This means
that pedestrians have to rely on the instantaneous information available to them and make
their choices in a reactive manner to minimize the walking cost to their destination.
The model presented in this paper is designed for bi-directional pedestrian ows and consists of a two-dimensional (2D) scalar hyperbolic conservation law equation coupled with an
Eikonal-type equation for each group. It is extended from a single pedestrian-type reactive
dynamic user equilibrium model [16, 19, 32]. The model system is solved using a nite volume
method (FVM) and a fast marching method (FMM) on an unstructured grid. The former is
simple and capable of exibly dealing with body boundaries with complicated structures. In
addition, it provides conservative schemes with shock-capturing properties and is extensively
applied to solve the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations (e.g., [3335]). The FMM, which is

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an ordered upwind method, is appropriate for boundary value problems and is very eective
in solving the continuous Eikonal problem, which is discussed in detail in a number of other
studies [36, 37]. By simulating this continuum model, a number of results, e.g., the formation
of strips or moving clusters composed of pedestrians walking to the same destination, that are
obtained with microscopic models and experimental investigations [22], are also observed here.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the governing models of
pedestrian ow are described. The numerical methods for solving the models are given in
Section 3. Section 4 demonstrates a numerical experiment and presents related analysis. Section
5 concludes.

Problem Formulation

In this section, a series of formulas for bi-directional pedestrian ows are given. For ease
of reference, the following nomenclature is provided.
(1) represents a 2D continuous walking facility (in m2 ). (2) Group c represents the c-th
type of pedestrians marching toward the c-th destination of the walking facility. (3) is the
boundary of (in m), co the original segment from which Group c enters into the walking
facility (in m), cd the destination segment from which Group c leaves the walking facility (in
m), and ch the wall segment from which nobody in Group c is allowed to enter or leave the
walking facility (in m). (4) T is the time horizon (in s). (5) q c (x, y, t) expresses the number
of pedestrians who cross a unit width of co and describes the time-varying demand of Group
c (in ped/m/s). (6) c (x, y, t) is a time-varying function that denotes the pedestrian density
of Group c (in ped/m2 ). (7) Fc (x, y, t) := (f1c (x, y, t), f2c (x, y, t)) represents the ow vector for
Group c, where f1c (x, y, t) is the ow ux in the x-direction and f2c (x, y, t) is the ow ux in
the y-direction (in ped/m/s). By default, Fc (x, y, t) n = 0, where n denotes the unit outward
normal of ch . (8) v c (x, y, t) is the local walking speed of Group c (in m/s). (9) c (x, y, t) is
the local cost of Group c (in s). (10) c (x, y, t) is the instantaneous walking time potential of
Group c from location (x, y) to cd , at which c = 0 (in s).
 
Finally, = co cd ch , c {a, b}, (x, y) and t T .
2.1 Flow conservation equation
Similar to most physical systems, the density, velocity and ow of pedestrians follow the
physical principle of conservation. The conservation of mass for bi-directional pedestrian ows
is given by
ct (x, y, t) + Fc (x, y, t) = 0,
(2.1)
c

f c (x,y,t)

f c (x,y,t)

where ct (x, y, t) = (x,y,t)

and Fc (x, y, t) = 1 x
+ 2 y .
t
2.2 Walking speed function
The local walking speeds of the two groups depend on the densities and traveling directions
of the pedestrians in the walking facility and are determined by (see [38])




v a (
(2.2)
, ) = vf exp (a + b )2 exp (1 cos())(b )2 ,




v b (
(2.3)
, ) = vf exp (a + b )2 exp (1 cos())(a )2 ,
where := {a (x, y, t), b (x, y, t)}. Here, vf is the free-ow walking speed of pedestrians, ,
, are the model parameters, and := (x, y, t) is the intersecting angle between the two

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pedestrian streams of Group a and Group b, respectively, at location (x, y), as shown in Figure
1.

Fig.1

Angle between Streams a and b

For the case in which there is only single stream a, i.e., b = 0, (2.2) and (2.3) can be
formulated as


v a (
, ) = vf exp (a )2 ,




v b (
, ) = vf exp (a )2 exp (1 cos )(a )2 .
However, v b (
, ) in this situation is, eectively, only a direction-dependent potential speed if
there is potentially a single pedestrian trying to walk in direction against Stream a. Therefore,
the actual speed of Stream b is not relevant. Also, the speed is identical to v a (
, ) if this
potential pedestrian happens to walk parallel to Stream a (i.e., = 0).
2.3 Local cost function
The local cost, c , as a function of location and time is assumed to depend on walking
speed alone and can be specied as
c (x, y, t) : = (v c (
, )) =

1
,
v c (
, )

(2.4)

which describes the walking time per unit distance of movement incurred by a pedestrian in
Group c in the walking facility.
2.4 Denitional relationship
For each Group c {a, b}, along the direction of the ow vector (or movement), ow
intensity, which is determined as the norm of the pedestrian ow, is equal to the product of
speed and density,
 Fc (x, y, t) = v c (
, )c (x, y, t),
(2.5)
where

1

 Fc (x, y, t) = f1c (x, y, t)2 + f2c (x, y, t)2 2 .

2.5

Path choice constraints

It is assumed that a pedestrian in each group at location (x, y) will choose a path
that minimizes his or her travel cost to the destination, based on the instantaneous travel cost
information that is available at the time of making a decision. Then, we have
c (x, y, t)

Fc (x, y, t)
+ c (x, y, t) = 0,
 Fc (x, y, t) 

where
c =

 c c 
,
.
x y

(2.6)

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Based on (2.4)(2.6),
Fc (x, y, t) =

, )c (x, y, t)
v c (
c (x, y, t)
c (x, y, t)

= c (x, y, t)(v c (
, ))2 c (x, y, t),

(2.7)

and
 c (x, y, t) = c (x, y, t).

(2.8)

From (2.7), assuming that c (x, y, t) = 0, the following property is obtained [19, 3943].
Fc (x, y, t)//(c (x, y, t)),

(2.9)

where // means that the two vectors, Fc (x, y, t) and c (x, y, t), are parallel and pointing
in the opposite direction. Furthermore, (2.8) can be shown as follows.
For any used path p, from location (x, y) to destination (x0 , y0 ) cd , if we integrate
the local travel cost along the path, then the total cost incurred by pedestrians can be obtained
by



Fc (x, y, t)
pc (x, y, t) = c (x, y, t)ds = c (x, y, t)

ds
=

c (x, y, t) ds
 Fc (x, y, t) 
p
p
p
= (c (x0 , y0 , t) c (x, y, t)) = c (x, y, t),

(2.10)

Fc (x,y,t)
Fc (x,y,t) is
cd , t T.

a unit vector that is parallel to ds along the path,

using (2.6)(2.9), the fact that
and c (x0 , y0 , t) = 0, (x0 , y0 )
Hence, the total instantaneous travel cost at time
t T is independent of the used paths.
In contrast, for an unused path p, between location (x, y) and destination (x0 , y0 ) cd ,
the total walking time incurred by the pedestrian is



Fc (x, y, t)
c
c
c
ds = c (x, y, t) ds
p (x, y, t) = (x, y, t)ds (x, y, t)
 Fc (x, y, t) 
p
p
p
= (c (x0 , y0 , t) c (x, y, t)) = c (x, y, t),

(2.11)

using (2.6)(2.9).
The inequality in the foregoing derivation occurs because of some segments along path
Fc (x,y,t)
Fc (x,y,t)
p whose normal vectors F
c (x,y,t) are not parallel, ds; thus, ds > ( Fc (x,y,t) ) ds for those
segments. Hence, for any unused paths, the total instantaneous travel cost is greater than or
equal to that of the used paths. In this way, the model guarantees that pedestrians choose their
paths in the walking facility in a user-optimal manner with respect to the instantaneous travel
information [44], that is, the pedestrian ow conditions at the time.
The model can now be formulated as the following set of dierential equations.

c
c

t (x, y, t) + F (x, y, t) = 0,
(2.12)
Fc (x, y, t) = c (x, y, t)(v c (
, ))2 c (x, y, t),

 c (x, y, t) = c (x, y, t),

where c (x, y, t) are determined by (2.2)(2.4), respectively. Note that angle in (2.2) and
(2.3) can be obtained by two potential functions due to (2.7). Then, we have
cos() =

a (x, y, t)
b (x, y, t)

.
a
 (x, y, t)   b (x, y, t) 

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The system (2.12) is subject to the following initial boundary conditions.

Fc (x, y, t) n(x, y) = q c (x, y, t),
(x, y, 0) =
c

c0 (x, y),

(x, y, t) = 0,
c

(x, y) co ,

(x, y) ,
(x, y)

cd ,

(2.13)
(2.14)
(2.15)

where n(x, y) is a unit normal vector that points to the domain boundary, and c0 (x, y) is the
initial pedestrian density for each group.

Solution Algorithms

Here, the cell-centered FVM for an approximation of the 2D conservation law equation and
the FMM for the Eikonal-type problem on unstructured meshes, respectively, are introduced
to solve the system (2.12).
3.1 Finite Volume Spatial Discretization

Let T h :=
Ti be an acute triangulation of computational domain with Np nodes,
Ti T h

Nt cells and Nf faces. The size of the discretization is dened by h := superTi T h {hTi }, where
hTi is the exterior diameter of triangular cell Ti . We label the neighboring triangles of Ti as
Tik , with a counter-clockwise convention as sketched in Figure 2.

Fig.2

A typical unstructured triangular grid

A cell-centered FVM is considered, i.e., each cell represents a control volume (CV). The
unknowns are stored in the geometric center of the cells. Integrating (2.1) over Ti and applying
the Gausss theorem yields


c
dxdy +
Fc nds = 0, Ti T h ,
(3.16)
Ti t
Ti
where Ti denotes three edges of Ti , and n is the outer unit normal pointing to Ti . Assuming
that ci is the average quantity stored in the cell center of Ti , we obtain the following formula.

ci
1
Fc nds = 0, Ti T h ,
(3.17)
+
t
Ai Ti
where Ai refers to the area of Ti . To obtain the semi-discrete form of (3.17), the boundary integral term needs to be evaluated. Let lik denote the k-th edge of Ti and nik be the corresponding
normal vector, k = 1, 2, 3. The integral expression is discretized by summing the ux vectors
over each edge of the triangular cell. Utilizing a mid-point quadrature formula generates

3

 c

ik nik
F
Fc nds =
|lik |, Ti T h ,
(3.18)
m
Ti

ik

k=1

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c is the numerical ux through the middle point mik of lik .

where F
ik

Fig.3

Schematic diagram of two adjacent triangular cells

To obtain the upwind mechanism, high-order accuracy and essential stability of the numerical scheme, a splitting into the normal ux function Fc n at location Xjk = (xjk , yjk ), k =
1, 2, 3, 4 (see Figure 3) is adopted. For instance, Lax-Friedrichs splitting [45] is used.
(Fc n) =

1
[(F n)(c ) c ],
2

(3.19)

where := v c (
, ) is the upper bound of the spectrum of the Jacobi of the normal ow
function. Here, Xjk , k = 2, 3 is the barycentric coordinate of the triangles, and Xjk , k = 1, 4 is
the vertex of the triangles. The unknown concentration at a vertex in the mesh is obtained via
the inverse distance weighting interpolation method [46].
The normal numerical ux across the cell boundary l between two neighboring cells can
be written as
c n)m = (Fc n)L + (Fc n)R .
(F
(3.20)
For a rst-order (1st) scheme, let (Fc n)L = [F n(cj2 )]+ and (Fc n)R = [F n(cj3 )] by
assuming constant variables in each cell. Here it is postulated that the variables are the adjacent
piecewise constant values in each cell. Applying a MUSCL reconstruction technique yields a
second-order (2nd) spatial accuracy scheme [47]. The detailed scheme is
+
+
c
c
(Fc n)L = G1 ((Fc n)+
j1 , (F n)j2 , (F n)j3 ),

(F n)R = G2 ((F
c

c
n)
j2 , (F

c
n)
j3 , (F

n)
j4 ),

(3.21)
(3.22)

with
1
G1 (q1 , q2 , q3 ) = q2 + [(1 ) + (1 + )+ ]q2 ,
4
1
G2 (q2 , q3 , q4 ) = q3 [(1 )+ + (1 + ) ]q3 ,
4

(3.23)
(3.24)

where (Fc n)
jk = [(F n)(jk )] , k = 1, 2, 3, 4, and , indicate the forward and backward
dierence operators, respectively, e.g., + qi = qi+1 qi , qi = qi qi1 , i = 2, 3. The value
of  is 13 in this paper. Note that for boundary CV, the values of c at Xj3 , Xj4 are obtained by
extrapolation from the inside computational domain. To avoid great change in the mesh size
of neighboring cells, + q2 in (3.23) and q3 in (3.24) are modied as follows.

+ q2 =

2l1
q3 = 2l2 (q3 q2 ),
(q3 q2 ),
l1 + l2
l1 + l2

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where li , i = 1, 2 is the length from the centroid of the left or right cell to the mid-point of the
edge l.
Furthermore, a slope limiter functions L( , + ) can be imposed on (3.23) and (3.24) to
suppress spurious oscillations in the process of computation. The two formulas are rewritten as
L( , + )
+ ]q2 ,
[(1 L( , + )) + (1 + L( , + ))
4
L( , + )
]q3 .
[(1 L( , + ))+ + (1 + L( , + ))
G2 (q2 , q3 , q4 ) = q3
4

G1 (q1 , q2 , q3 ) = q2 +

(3.25)
(3.26)

A double-parameter minmod limiter [48] is adopted due to its robustness.

L( , + ) = minmod(1, ) + minmod(1, + ) 1.
q4 q3
+
1
where = qq23 q
q2 , = q3 q2 .
3.2 Calculation of c on CV surfaces
In (2.7), the values of c at each CV boundary are unknown. Assuming that c is
piece-wise linear on each triangle, it can be written as

c (x, y)|Ti =

k ck , Ti T h ,
N

(3.27)

k=1

k , k = 1, 2, 3 is a Lagrangian interpolation basis function on the triangular meshes and

where N
c
k is the value of c at the k-th vertex of triangle Ti . Then, c is piece-wise constant on
each triangle, and
3

k c , Ti T h .
c (x, y)|Ti =
N
(3.28)
k
k=1

The approximate value of c at each vertex of mesh is calculated by solving the nonlinear
Eikonal equation. Several numerical methods can be used for this purpose, such as the group
marching method (GMM), the FMM or the fast sweeping method (FSM), among others. The
FMM is chosen, as its yields are consistent, accurate and highly ecient, based on entropysatisfying upwind schemes and fast sorting techniques.
Here a brief review of the upwind nite dierence discretization for the Eikonal equation
is given. Consider simplex X0 X1 X2 in the triangular meshes. We assume that c at X0
is to be computed and that cl , cl , l = 1, 2 at X1 and X2 are given or have already

 been
N1
X0 Xl
computed. Dene unit vectors Nl = |X0 Xl | , l = 1, 2 and a 22 nonsingular matrix N =
N2
(X0 , X1 and X2 are not lined up). The directional derivatives in the N1 and N2 directions are
approximated by
c0 cl
,
l = 1, 2, 1st formula,
|X0 Xl |
c cl
D l c = 2 0
Nl (cl ) , l = 1, 2, 2nd formula,
|X0 Xl |

D l c =

(3.29)
(3.30)

where the superscript  stands for vector or matrix transposition. The approximation directional derivatives are linked to the gradient by
Dc = N (c ) + O(h ),

(3.31)

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D1
, h = max{|X0 X1 |, |X0 X2 |}, and = 1 or 2, depending on whether
where D =
D2
(3.29) or (3.30) is used. Substituting c , which was obtained by (3.31), into (2.8), we obtain
the (quadratic) equation that denes the unknown c0 :


(Dc ) (N N  )1 (Dc ) = (0c )2 .

(3.32)

c0 can be updated if the upwind criterion is satised: the characteristic direction should point
to simplex X0 X1 X2 and is equivalent to
(N N  )1 Dc > 0.
Then, the value of c0 at X0 is determined by

solution of (3.29) or (3.30) ,

c0 = min

min {cl + |X0 Xl |0c },

l=1,2

(3.33)

if (3.33) holds,
others.

(3.34)

With the FMM, the values of c at all mesh nodes are considered in an order that is consistent
with the way fronts propagate. This leads us to a single-pass algorithm, which is the advantage
of this method in solving front propagation problems with a lower degree of computational
complexity. Following Ref. [36], the procedure of the algorithm is given as follows. First, the
mesh points are divided into three sets, i.e., Accepted, Considered and Far. For example, tag
the points on co as Accepted (c = 0 on cd ) and then tag all points adjacent to those in
Accepted set as Considered. Finally, tag all other points as Far. The fast-marching algorithm
is briey described as follows.
The point with the lowest value in the Considered set is removed from it and then added
to the Accepted set; its unaccepted neighbors are added to the Considered set.
The values of all points in the Considered set are recomputed using (3.34).
Repeat the process until all of the points are in the Accepted set.
For more detailed depictions of the algorithm, refer to Refs. [36] and [37].
3.3 Time discretization
To obtain 2nd accuracy in time, the explicit TVD Runge-Kutta time-stepping method [49]
is chosen to discretize (3.17) as follows.
(1)

(c )i

= (c )ni

t c
(F n)nmk |lik |,
Ai

(3.35)

k=1

(c )n+1
=
i

3

1 c n
t c
(1)
( )i + (c )i
(F n)(1)
mk |lik | .
2
Ai

(3.36)

k=1

Here, time step t needs to satisfy the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) condition. For a 2D
MUSCL scheme on unstructured grids, the stability condition is
 d(Fc n) 
t


max

 max |lik | 1,
i,k
mini Ai c
dc
where i = 1, 2, , Nt , k = 1, 2, 3.

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Numerical Example

In this section, we consider a railway platform that is 100m by 50m in size, as shown in
Figure 4. Group c enters the platform from segment co with a width of 20m and leaves the
platform from segment cd with a width of 20m.

Fig.4

Overview of the railway platform

The time step is set to be 240s. Initially, the platform is empty. The inlet ow rate,
q (x, y, t), on co represents time-varying demand and is given as follows.
t

ma ,
t [0, 30],

30

m ,
t [30, 90],
a
q a (0, y, t) =
t

120

, t [90, 120],
ma

30

0,
t [120, 300],
c

with y [15m, 35m], and

q b (x, 0, t) =

mb ,

30

m ,
b

t 120

,
mb

30

0,

t [0, 30],
t [30, 90],
t [90, 120],
t [120, 300],

with x [65m, 85m], where ma and mb denote, respectively, the peaks of the inlet ow rate
at the two entrances and we take ma = 1.0ped/m/s and mb = 0.5ped/m/s for the calculation.
Then, ow vector Fa = (q a , 0) on ao and Fb = (0, q b ) on bo . The free-ow walking speed is
taken as 1.034m/s and two model parameters, , in (2.2) and (2.3), are taken as 0.075, 0.019,
respectively (see [38]).
The validation for the convergence of numerical solutions generally involves comparing
them with the exact solutions of the problem. However, the exact solutions of the system
model (2.12) are unknown. We thus have to use other methods (e.g., by rening the mesh) to
convince ourselves about the convergence of the numerical solutions.
The numerical experiments on four dierent sizes of unstructured meshes are tested: Mesh
1 with h = 1.6m; Mesh 2 with h = 0.8m; Mesh 3 with h = 0.4m; and Mesh 4 with h = 0.2m.

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Comparing the numerical solutions obtained using the numerical methods mentioned in Ref.
[19], i.e., the 1st order accuracy upwind scheme for the conservation law equation coupled with
the 1st order FSM on orthogonal grids, indicates that the two numerical methods achieve almost
the same results on dierent types of grids (see Figures 5 and 6). Here, four dierent partition
sizes that correspond to the aforementioned mesh sizes are applied to generate orthogonal grids.
The density curves of Group a along the center line, x = 50m, of the computational domain
with two dierent methods are shown in Figure 5. Figure 6 depicts the density curves of Group
b along the center line, y = 25m, of the computational domain with two dierent methods.
From these gures, it can be seen that the densities as functions of time in decreasing discrete
sizes converge toward a unique solution. In addition, it is also believed that the numerical
solutions are stable and can be found with the nest mesh.

100*50
200*100
300*150
400*200

0.9
0.8

Mesh 1
Mesh 2
Mesh 3
Mesh 4

0.8

0.7
0.6

0.6
0.5
0.4

0.4

0.3
0.2

0.2

0.1
0

10

20

30

40

10

20

Fig.5

30

40

50

(Color online) Density plot of Group a at x = 50m and at t = 90s

100*50
200*100
300*150
400*200

0.9
0.8

Mesh 1
Mesh 2
Mesh 3
Mesh 4

0.8

0.7
0.6

0.6
0.5
0.4

0.4

0.3
0.2

0.2

0.1
0

20

40

60

(a) upwind
Fig.6

80

20

40

60

80

100

(b) MUSCL

(Color online) Density plot of Group b at y = 25m and t = 120s

The densities of the bi-directional pedestrian ows in the railway platform are plotted in
Figure 7 at dierent times. This gure clearly shows that the walking area is not fully occupied
based on the optimal strategy for making a path-choice decision. It can also be seen that the
ows spread over the center of the groups and form two strips that are composed of pedestrians

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Vol.29 Ser.B

walking in the same direction; then, each pedestrian in his or her group attempts to move
toward the center of the group. The two streams of pedestrians walking in crossing directions
to their dierent destinations always tend to separate. The dynamic continuum model of bidirectional pedestrian ows can reproduce self-organized phenomena [8, 12, 2022], as dynamic
lane formation can be also observed in such ows.
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

1.25 1.5 1.75

2.25 2.5 2.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

40

20

20

20

20

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

40

60

80

0
100

1.25 1.5 1.75

2.25 2.5 2.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

20

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

20

40

60

80

0
100

1.25 1.5 1.75

2.25 2.5 2.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

80

100

80

100

80

100

40

20

20

20

40

60

80

100

20

(c) t = 90s
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

1.25 1.5 1.75

2.25 2.5 2.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

40

60

(d) t = 90s
4

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

1.25 1.5 1.75

2.25 2.5 2.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

40

40

20

20

20

40

60

80

100

20

(e) t = 120s
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

1.25 1.5 1.75

2.25 2.5 2.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

40

60

(f) t = 120s
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

1.25 1.5 1.75

2.25 2.5 2.75

3.25 3.5 3.75

40

40

20

20

2.25 2.5 2.75

(b) t = 60s

40

40

(a) t = 60s

1.25 1.5 1.75

40

40

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

20

40

60

(g) t = 180s
Fig.7

80

100

20

40

60

(h) t = 180s

(Color online) Density plot (left: Group a; right: Group b)

Figure 8 depicts the ow vector (2.7) of each group at dierent times, which helps us to
observe the distribution and evolution of the ows. Strip formation in the two intersecting
pedestrian streams is displayed. At the end of the modeling period, i.e., t = 240s, almost all
pedestrians get away from the railway platform.

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At the beginning of the modeling period when the two groups do not interact, the pedestrians move forward toward their goal, with almost none of them changing direction. As time
marches on, the two groups arrive in the common area and are then interactive and passed by
each other. As a result, the primary walking directions of the two groups vary. In addition,
high-density values can be seen near the two exits, as the crowded conditions force the pedestrians speed to decrease as they line up to walk through the relatively narrow exits. When
pedestrians want to pass through a bottleneck (e.g., coming into being in the common area and
at the exits), interaction and negotiation become important to crossing ows and crowd ows
[22].

40

40

30

30

50

50

20

20

10

10

20

40

60

80

100

20

(a) t = 30s

30

40

30

50

40

20

20

10

10

20

40

60

80

100

20

(c) t = 90s

40

30

30

40

50

20

20

10

10

20

40

60

80

100

20

(e) t = 150s

30

40

30

50

40

20

20

10

10

20

40

60

(g) t = 210s
Fig.8

80

100

40

60

80

100

40

60

80

100

80

100

(f) t = 180s

50

60

(d) t = 120s

50

(b) t = 60s

50

40

80

100

20

40

60

(h) t = 240s

(Color online) Flow vector plot (red: Group a; green: Group b)

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Conclusion

In this work, the reactive dynamic user equilibrium model reported by Hughes [16] and
Huang et al. [19] is extended to simulate two groups of pedestrians walking in crossing directions in a continuous walking facility. In this model, strategic path choice is the decision each
pedestrian in a group makes to minimize the travel cost to his or her destination in a reactive
manner based on the instantaneous available information. By numerically solving the model,
a number of results, e.g., the formation of strips composed of pedestrians walking to the same
destination, are observed. Lane or strip formation embodies pedestrians cooperative strategy
when moving in dierent directions [22]. A relatively high degree of density exists at the bottlenecks, i.e., the two exits, which causes trac congestion. The numerical results obtained
with this continuum model can serve as a fundamental basis for congestion control and trac
management.
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