Counterflow in Evacuations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how counterflow during evacuations can improve egress times under specific conditions, using calculations and micro simulations, though practical signage challenges remain.

Contribution

It demonstrates that counterflow can enhance evacuation efficiency in certain scenarios, a novel insight supported by analytical and simulation methods.

Findings

Counterflow can reduce egress times in specific conditions

Micro simulation confirms potential benefits of counterflow

Signage challenges limit practical implementation

Abstract

It is shown in this work that the average individual egress time and other performance indicators for egress of people from a building can be improved under certain circumstances if counterflow occurs. The circumstances include widely varying walking speeds and two differently far located exits with different capacity. The result is achieved both with a paper and pencil calculation as well as with a micro simulation of an example scenario. As the difficulty of exit signage with counterflow remains one cannot conclude from the result that an emergency evacuation procedure with counterflow would really be the better variant.