Pedestrian Simulation

The UAF can be used to accurately model changes in urban space or road network usage caused by special events, sports events, street parties or large scale street closures in complex, densely crowded and highly utilised urban areas. Different types of major events all have one thing in common, lots of people in the same place at the same time and everybody is trying to get somewhere. Mixing crowds and vehicles together in this environment can lead to a high probability of conflict and a higher potential for accidents.

In the UAF model, demand regions and agent volumes are designed to mimic the agents exit from within the study area to one or more exit points. Spatial metrics tools are then used to calculate egress times from different areas of the model and to identify areas where excessive density or high spatial utilisation values indicate a potential for crushing and injury as the crowd exits the study area.

A Balanced Approach to Event Management

Integrating pedestrian and traffic components lets the user test alternative scenarios. For example, having a buffer period between pedestrian and vehicular traffic leaving the study area or temporarily allocating a section of road network to the pedestrian crowd allowing a faster and safer exit from the study area.

In both these example the UAF can be used to quantify the pros and cons to all parties of any proposed scheme i.e. faster crowd egress time vs. longer vehicle delays.