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Toward an Accurate Microscopic Passenger Train Evacuation Model Using MassMotion

Anvari, B; Nip, CK; Majumdar, A; (2017) Toward an Accurate Microscopic Passenger Train Evacuation Model Using MassMotion. In: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers. The National Academies Press: Washington DC, United States.. Green open access

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Abstract

During emergency situations in trains, rapid and safe evacuation is crucial for saving lives of passengers. Computer models such as EvacTrain, STEPS, Pathfinder and FDS+Evac are making use of either a discrete space network or a continuous space network, and allow determining egress times for various emergency passenger train designs and conditions. These models offer insights into potential difficulties and offer possible solutions to evacuation challenges in a short time and at low cost. This paper focuses on the application of MassMotion (a commercial available evacuation software commonly used for evacuation planning in buildings) to passenger train evacuation. Key performance indicators such as mean total evacuation times, standard deviations, maximum evacuation times, minimum evacuation times, and 95th percentile of egress times are determined to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of MassMotion. In the validation test, actual occupant egress rates from a fire drill conducted by the Spanish Railroad Administration in a passenger train are used to measure the reliability of MassMotion for producing accurate egress time predictions. Further, the MassMotion passenger train simulation model is verified and compared to other existing microscopic passenger train evacuation models for a hypothetical case study. The comparison shows that microscopic models with continuous-space representation predict passenger evacuation times more accurately than discrete networks. Also, the force-based model MassMotion provides consistent and reliable egress time predictions. The findings of this study contributes to the field of egress models for passenger train emergencies and can be used by evacuation modellers and authorities to support their decisions.

Type: Proceedings paper
Title: Toward an Accurate Microscopic Passenger Train Evacuation Model Using MassMotion
Event: Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
Location: Washington DC, United States
Dates: 8-12 January 2017
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: https://trid.trb.org/View/1439293
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. This paper was peer-reviewed by TRB and presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., January 2017.
Keywords: Computer modelling, Egress models, Train evacuation, Social Force Model, Cellular automata model, MassMotion
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10069148
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