Cellular Automata Model for Traffic Flow with Optimised Stochastic Noise Parameter

Based on the existing safe distance cellular automata model, an improved cellular automata model based on realistic human reactions is proposed in this paper, which aims to reproduce the characteristics of congested traffic flow. In the proposed model, the stochastic noise param-eter is optimised by considering driving behavioural dif-ference. The relative speed, gap and acceleration of the front vehicle are introduced into the optimised stochastic noise parameter oriented to describing the asymmetric acceleration behaviour of drivers in congestion. The sim-ulation results show that an uneven distribution of accel-eration trajectories of vehicles experiencing congestion exhibited on the spatial-temporal diagram of the pro-posed model is reproduced. Based on the analysis of the NGSIM, compared with the model with traditional sto-chastic noise parameter, the vehicles that move accord-ing to the proposed model can follow more easily and more realistically. Then the actual gap of vehicles can be better reflected by the proposed model and the change of vehicle speed is more stable. Additionally, the traffic efficiency from two aspects of flow and speed shows that the proposed model can significantly improve the traffic efficiency in the medium high density region

Study of a Newtonian Fluid through Circular Channels with Slip Boundary Taking into Account Electrokinetic Effect

We study the slip flow of fluids driven by the combined effect of electrical force and pressure gradient. The underlying boundary value problem is solved through the use of Fourier series expansion in time and Bessel function in space. The exact solutions and numerical investigations show that the slip length and electrical field parameters have significant effects on the velocity profile. By varying these system parameters, one can achieve smooth velocity profiles or wave form profiles with different wave amplitude and frequency. This opens the way for optimizing the flow by choosing the slip length, the electrical field, and electrolyte solutions

Experimental Study for Optimizing Pedestrian Flows at Bottlenecks of Subway Stations

In subway stations, bottlenecks are the narrowed areas that reduce pedestrian flows in channels. Because pedestrians at bottlenecks are forced to dense together, bottlenecks decrease flow efficiency and pedestrians’ transfer comfort and may trigger serious crowd disasters such as trampling. This study used pedestrian experiments to investigate the methods of optimizing pedestrian traffic at bottlenecks of subway stations. Three optimization measures were proposed and evaluated by analyzing the characteristics of pedestrian flows, including efficiency, smoothness, and security. In this paper, setting the rear sides of the bottleneck entrance as straight and surface funnel shapes is called straight funnel shape and surface funnel shape, respectively. Setting a column at a bottleneck is called the column obstacle. The results showed that when efficiency or security come first, a column on the left is recommended; when comfort comes first, a concave funnel is recommended; when comprehensiveness is prioritized, a column on the left is recommended. Moreover, the larger the volume, the optimization is more obvious. Although many  bottlenecks cannot be prevented when subway stations are constructed, the proposed optimization measures may help ease their adverse effects by improving facility efficiency, smoothness, and security, and by providing recommendations for designing and managing subway stations.</p

Experimental Study of Oblique Pedestrian Streams

The intersecting of pedestrian streams is a common phenomenon which would lead to the pedestrian deceleration, stopping, and even threat to the safety of walking. The organization of pedestrian flow is a critical factor which influences the intersection traffic. The aim of this paper is to study the characteristics of oblique pedestrian streams by a set of pedestrian experiments. Two groups of experiment participants, three volume levels and five intersecting angles were tested. The qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis methods were applied to find out the relationship between the pedestrian streams angle and pedestrian characteristics. The results indicated that the mean and median speed, exit traffic efficiency decreased initially and increased afterwards with the increase of intersecting angles when the volume was 1,000 p/h/m and 3,000 p/h/m, while the speed standard deviation changing inversely. However, these four factors show the opposite variation tendency in volume 5,000 p/h/m. Meanwhile, the quadratic function was selected to fit them. It is found that the worst speeds of pedestrian streams were 131° and 122° in volume 1,000 p/h/m and 3,000 p/h/m, respectively, and the greatest influence on pedestrian streams was 125° in volume 5,000 p/h/m. The results of this research can help establish the foundation for the organization and optimization of intersecting pedestrian streams.</p

Modelling the Selection of Waiting Areas on Subway Platforms Based on the Bacterial Chemotaxis Algorithm

Based on the bacterial chemotaxis algorithm, a new waiting-area selection model (WASM) is proposed that predicts well the pedestrian distribution in subway waiting areas. WASM regards passengers waiting on a subway platform as two-dimensional points and adopts an essential rejection factor to determine the target waiting area. Based on WASM, three experiments were carried out to explore how passenger volume, waiting-area capacity, and staircase position affect the number and distribution of waiting passengers. The experimental results show the following. 1) Regardless of the passenger flow, passengers prefer waiting areas that are between the stairs. 2) Setting proper capacity limits on waiting areas can help to improve subway transportation efficiency when passenger flow is relatively high. 3) The experimental results show that the closer the staircases, the more passengers are left stranded on the platform

Connectivity Contribution to Urban Hub Network Based on Super Network Theory – Case Study of Beijing

With the rapid development of urbanization in China, the number of travel modes and urban passenger transportation hubs has been increasing, gradually forming multi-level and multi-attribute transport hub networks in the cities. At the same time, Super Network Theory (SNT) has advantages in displaying the multi-layer transport hubs. The aim of this paper is to provide a new perspective to study connectivity contribution of potential hubs. Urban transport hubs are ranked through topological features based on Hub Super Network (HSN). This paper proposes two indexes based on Super-Edge (SE), Zero Hub Degree of SE (ZHDoSE) and a number of shared SEes (NSSE), respectively. Then, a case study was conducted in Beijing, which considers four combinations to study the influence of transport modes and subway lines on connectivity. The results show that no-normalization strengthens the contribution of transport modes and subway lines on connectivity. Besides, the transport mode contributes a lot to the connectivity. However, elements normalization strengthens the subway lines under ZHDoSE reciprocal. In addition, various weights of ZHDoSE and NSSE have different influences on the recognition results of SEes in HSN

Study on the Weaving Behavior of High Density Bidirectional Pedestrian Flow

Weaving area may be the critical risk place in the subway transfer station. When improving service level of the weaving area, the characteristic of pedestrian weaving behavior should be systemically discussed. This paper described the mechanism of weaving behavior on high density pedestrian which was analyzed by the collection data of controlled experiment. Different weaving behaviors were contrasted due to different volumes in the bidirectional passageway. Video analysis was conducted to extract pedestrian moving behavior and calibrate the movement data with SIMI Motion. Influence of the high density weaving pedestrian was studied based on the statistical results (e.g., velocity, walking distance, and journey time). Furthermore, the quantitative method by speed analysis was announced to discriminate the conflict point. The scopes of weaving area and impact area at different pedestrian volumes were revealed to analyze the pedestrian turning angle. The paper concluded that walking pedestrians are significantly influenced by the weaving conflict and trend to turn the moving direction to avoid the conflict in weaving area; the ratio of stable weaving area and impact area is 2 to 3. The conclusions do provide a method to evaluate the transfer station safety and a facility layout guidance to improve the capacity

Adaptability Analysis of Service Facilities in Transfer Subway Stations

Service capability and matching degree of transfer facilities are directly related to the operational efficiency and safety of a subway station. Owing to differences in planning and construction, the transfer subway stations in developing countries have some defects in facility size and serviceability, which cause a decline in service performance, operation efficiency, and security level. In order to solve the problems, traffic investigations were conducted on the form, size, and operation status of several typical transfer subway facilities. The service facilities were classified within a subway station in this research by considering service objects, service forms, service functions, and several other features. In addition, pedestrian behavior and pedestrian flow characteristics in different service facilities were analyzed in detail. The research results are deemed meaningful for the optimization of service facilities in subway stations and for the development of urban pedestrian transportation systems

Long-term spatial and temporal variation of CO2 partial pressure in the Yellow River, China

10.5194/bg-12-921-2015Biogeosciences124921-93

Reducing Bidirectional Pedestrian Conflict Based on Lane Formation Phenomenon in Subway Corridors

With the rapid increase of the subway passenger volume, the conflict among passengers emerges as a significant issue which affects subway serviceability, especially in the bidirectional flow. The aim of this study is to explore the characteristics of the bidirectional flow of pedestrians in a subway corridor. Pedestrian experiments were conducted to investigate microscopic characteristics of the pedestrian flow. It was found that the microscopic characteristics, including the walking speed and turning angle, were time-dependent and had a generalized trend with time. It was also found that different pedestrian volumes affected the microscopic characteristics. Based on the trend of the microscopic characteristics, the lane formation phenomenon was observed and quantitatively studied, identifying three phases: conflict phase, lane formation phase, and steady lane phase. To alleviate the bidirectional pedestrian conflict, additional pedestrian experiments for the countermeasure of adding separating strap in the corridor, which was based on the lane formation analysis, was conducted. The effectiveness of the countermeasure was demonstrated through a before-and-after comparison. The results showed that adding the separation between the adjacent lanes had the best performance in reducing the conflicts. The results would provide a rationale for subway managers in optimizing the corridor bidirectional pedestrian flow.</p