Continuous measurements of real-life bidirectional pedestrian flows on a wide walkway

Abstract

Employing partially overlapping overhead \kinectTMS sensors and automatic pedestrian tracking algorithms we recorded the crowd traffic in a rectilinear section of the main walkway of Eindhoven train station on a 24/7 basis. Beside giving access to the train platforms (it passes underneath the railways), the walkway plays an important connection role in the city. Several crowding scenarios occur during the day, including high- and low-density dynamics in uni- and bi-directional regimes. In this paper we discuss our recording technique and we illustrate preliminary data analyses. Via fundamental diagrams-like representations we report pedestrian velocities and fluxes vs. pedestrian density. Considering the density range $0$ - $1.1\,$ped/m$^2$, we find that at densities lower than $0.8\,$ped/m$^2$ pedestrians in unidirectional flows walk faster than in bidirectional regimes. On the opposite, velocities and fluxes for even bidirectional flows are higher above $0.8\,$ped/m$^2$.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure