Simulation of pedestrian counter flow through bottlenecks by using an agent-based model

Considerable research has been conducted on the topic of unidirectional evacuations from exits. However, few studies aim at simulating counter flow through a bottleneck with complex conflict. This paper proposes an agent-based model to investigate bidirectional flow evacuation. Pedestrian speed is determined by the speed of the leading agent and the surrounding agents. The moving direction of pedestrian originates from four forces, namely, gradient force, repulsive force, resistance force, and random force. These four forces dominate the main stream of the pedestrian moving trajectory, the interaction between pedestrians and their local environment, the resistance or disinclination to movement, and the random variations and chaotic nature of pedestrian dynamics. The novelty of this research is in the agent-based model that combines the agent and forces while providing insights for the simulation of the pedestrian dynamic on the cognitive level. The experiment results show that the behavior that arises from this model is consistent with the observations from Guangzhou Metro and that this model could help capture the essence of pedestrian behavior near egresses.