The Role of Static Pedestrian Groups in Crowded Spaces

It was hypothesized that groups of static pedestrians would play an important role in determining pattorns of movement in crowded spaces. This was investigated in five ticket halls in the London Underground. Queues, groups of people using automatic ticket machines, and other types of static groups were observed. The location of these groups was related to the layout of the space, and their general effects on movement through the space were assessed. It was found that under certain conditions static groups impede movement and diminish the effective width of key movoment channels. Although the study was exploratory, the results suggest a number of ways in which the layout of certain types of space might be optimized in terms of the criteria considered.