Experimental and Real World Applications of Agent-Based Pedestrian Group Modeling

The simulation of pedestrian dynamics is a consolidated area of application for agent-based models: successful case studies can be found in the literature and off-the-shelf simulators are commonly employed by decision makers and consultancy companies. These models, however, generally do not consider the explicit representation of pedestrians aggregations (groups), the related occurring relationships and their dynamics. This work is aimed at discussing the relevance and significance of this research effort with respect to the need of empirical data about the implication of the presence of groups of pedestrians in different situations (e.g. changing density, spatial configurations of the environment). The paper describes an agent-based model encapsulating in the pedestrian’s behavioural specification effects representing both traditional individual motivations (i.e. tendency to stay away from other pedestrians while moving towards the goal) and a simplified account of influences related to the presence of groups in the crowd. The model is tested in a simple scenario to evaluate the implications of some modeling choices and the presence of groups in the simulated scenario. Moreover, the model is applied in a real world scenario characterized by the presence of organized groups as an instrument for crowd management. Results are discussed and compared to experimental observations and to data available in the literature.