A Kinetic Theory Approach to Modeling Counterflow in Pedestrian Social Groups

This article focuses on modeling counterflows within pedestrian social groups in a corridor using the kinetic theory approach, specifically when two social groups move in opposite directions. The term social group refers to a set of pedestrians with established social relationships who stay as close as possible to one another and share a common goal or destination, such as friends or family. The model accounts for interactions both within the same social group and between pedestrians from different social groups. Numerical simulations based on a Monte Carlo particle method are performed. A key criterion for evaluating simulation models is their ability to reproduce empirically observed collective motion patterns. One of the most significant emergent behaviors in bidirectional pedestrian flows is lane formation. To analyze this phenomenon, we employ Yamori’s band index to quantify the evolution of lane structures.