Passenger evacuation during subway escalator malfunction under mass passenger flow

Abstract

Subway stations are characterized by mass passenger flow, complex evacuation routes and limited underground space. Failure to evacuate passengers in a timely manner during emergency situations may lead to panic, serious safety accidents and property loss. Therefore, subway station passenger flow control based on safety evacuation plays a crucial role in ensuring the safe travel of passengers and maintaining the efficient operation of the subway system. Based on the social force model, this research studies the Chegongmiao station of Shenzhen Metro Line 1 as an example, and establishes an evacuation model under mass passenger flow in subway stations through a simulation software AnyLogic. The impact of escalator malfunction accidents under mass passenger flow evacuation is analyzed in a microcosmic perspective, and compared with real world platform capacity in peak period, which highlighting the significance of studying mass passenger flow. Simulation results indicate that average distribution of passenger flow during accidents is more effective. Although guiding passengers who aim at the crowded escalator to other escalators may increase walking distance, it improves evacuation velocity, which can be 46.51% in peak period and 93.26% under mass passenger flow. Then, under mass passenger flow, considering various hypothetical scenarios of escalator malfunctions at different locations, a systematic discussion is conducted to classify and analyze specific passenger flow distribution plans. Through quantitative determination in simulation, the optimal passenger flow distribution plan is identified for each scenario, providing reference for the metro operating departments to formulate evacuation plans.

Keywords

• transportation engineering
• metro stations
• mass passenger flow
• emergency escalator malfunction
• passenger flow evacuation
• microscopic simulation