A least-effort principle based model for heterogeneous pedestrian flow considering overtaking behavior

Highlights: • A model based on least effort principle was proposed to simulate heterogeneous pedestrian flow. • The model is validated with several experimental data on unidirectional pedestrian flow. • The influence of corridor width and velocity distribution of crowd on unidirectional heterogeneous pedestrian flow were analyzed. • Some quantitative results which are of practical importance in traffic facilities design were obtained. - Abstract: In the context of global aging, how to design traffic facilities for a population with a different age composition is of high importance. For this purpose, we propose a model based on the least effort principle to simulate heterogeneous pedestrian flow. In the model, the pedestrian is represented by a three-disc shaped agent. We add a new parameter to realize pedestrians' preference to avoid changing their direction of movement too quickly. The model is validated with numerous experimental data on unidirectional pedestrian flow. In addition, we investigate the influence of corridor width and velocity distribution of crowds on unidirectional heterogeneous pedestrian flow. The simulation results reflect that widening corridors could increase the specific flow for the crowd composed of two kinds of pedestrians with significantly different free velocities. Moreover, compared with a unified crowd, the crowd composed of pedestrians with great mobility differences requires a wider corridor to attain the same traffic efficiency. This study could be beneficial in providing a better understanding of heterogeneous pedestrian flow, and quantified outcomes could be applied in traffic facility design.