Ordering in bidirectional pedestrian flows and its influence on the fundamental diagram

TL;DR

This study investigates how ordering in bidirectional pedestrian flows affects their fundamental diagrams, revealing that flow capacity is lower in bidirectional streams compared to unidirectional ones, with ordering influencing flow characteristics.

Contribution

It provides detailed analysis of the impact of different ordering patterns on bidirectional pedestrian flow dynamics using the Voronoi method.

Findings

Specific flow concept applies to bidirectional streams.

No large differences in density-flow relations across ordering types.

Maximum flow is higher in unidirectional streams.

Abstract

Experiments under laboratory conditions were carried out to study the ordering in bidirectional pedestrian streams and its influence on the fundamental diagram (density-speed-flow relation). The Voronoi method is used to resolve the fine structure of the resulting velocity-density relations and spatial dependence of the measurements. The data show that the specific flow concept is applicable also for bidirectional streams. For various forms of ordering in bidirectional streams, no large differences among density-flow relationships are found in the observed density range. The fundamental diagrams of bidirectional streams with different forms of ordering are compared with that of unidirectional streams. The result shows differences in the shape of the relation for {\rho} > 1.0 m-2. The maximum of the specific flow in unidirectional streams is significantly larger than that in all bidirectional streams examined.