Modeling the Dynamic Route Choice of Pedestrians to Assess the Criticality of Building Evacuation

In this paper we propose an event-driven way finding algorithm for pedestrians in a graph-based structure. The motivation of each pedestrian is to leave the facility. The events used to redirect pedestrians include the identification of a jam situation and/or identification of a better route than the present. The modeled strategies are the shortest path (local and global); they are combined with a quickest path approach, which is based on an observation principle, i.e. pedestrians take their decisions based on the observed environment and are routed dynamically in the network using an appropriate cost benefit analysis function. The influences of the different strategies on the evacuation time, the individual times spent in jam, the jam size evolution, and the overall jam size itself are investigated. The response of the system to broken escape routes is also analyzed. A good and plausible dynamic response in the route choice behavior of the pedestrians is achieved.