The Route Choice Behavior of Connected Pedestrians: A Macroscopic Evaluation of Crowd Dynamics Based on a Game Theoretical Framework

Connectivity and wireless communication technologies are expected to have significant impacts on transportation systems. These technologies have been already utilized in many vehicular traffic applications, resulting in more efficient (i.e. less congested and safer) surface transportation networks. Yet, there exists limited research on pedestrian connectivity and its effect on walking behaviors, particularly the route choice decisions of pedestrians. Adopting a game theoretical framework for modeling crowd dynamics, the present study evaluates pedestrians' route choice behavior under five market penetration rates of connectivity among pedestrians. All pedestrians are assumed to play a game with neighboring pedestrians at each time step when deciding on the best strategy to move towards their desired destination. However, the connected pedestrians are provided with information on the optimal route (i.e., the path with the minimum walking distance to the desired destination) based on their current location. Simulation results and the corresponding evaluation of the macroscopic traffic output indicate noticeable differences in pedestrians' route choice behavior under different levels of pedestrian connectivity (i.e., market penetration rates). Given information on the optimal route to the desired destination, the provision of the optimal strategy in the proposed game structure (through connectivity) leads pedestrians to choose strategies which move them towards the best route among the multiple alternatives. Such optimal route choice behavior, in turn, reduces the pedestrian travel time and also prevents the formation of high-density locations.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHB45 Standing Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics. Alternate title: Route Choice Behavior of Connected Pedestrians: A Macroscopic Evaluation of Crowd Dynamics Based on a Game-Theoretical Framework
• Authors:
  • Rahmati, Yalda
  • Talebpour, Alireza
  • Hamdar, Samer H
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 5p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Connectivity; Crowds; Game theory; Macroscopic traffic flow; Market penetration; Optimization; Route choice; Wireless communication systems
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01657986
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-05559
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 25 2018 9:34AM