A Review of Building Evacuation Models - NIST Virtual Library

A.7 PEDROUTE and PAXPORT
Developer: Halcrow Fox Associates, UK
Purpose of the model: The purpose of this model is to simulate the passage of travelers through
public transport stations 26-32 . PEDROUTE has been used to model approximately 100
underground stations in London. PAXPORT, which can model airports or railway terminals, has
the capability of incorporating the movement of passengers in shopping and waiting areas in the
stations. PAXPORT can model aircraft, train, bus, and passenger movements. The models can
be used to show where capacity problems are likely within the stations, and to test
improvements.
Availability to the public for use: PEDROUTE can be purchased from Halcrow Fox
Associates. Or, Halcrow Fox will build a model for the client directly and test changes in-house.
PAXPORT is not commercially available.
Modeling method: This is a partial behavioral model. It relies on speed/flow curves which
have been established from past observations of stations in normal use. Also, attention is paid to
usage of facilities, which is modeled in the form of occupant delays.
Structure of model: This is a coarse network system. The station plans are broken down into
“blocks” which represent stairs, escalators, platforms, ticket halls, etc. Each block has a
speed/flow curve associated with it to describe the movement of the passengers. These
speed/flow curves have been established from past surveys at underground stations.
Perspective of model: The model views the occupants globally because instead of individually
recognizing each occupant; the occupant becomes one of 16 different group types. Each group
type is categorized by flight type (domestic flight, long haul, etc.) and purpose (business and
leisure) and is assumed to have particular characteristics. The occupants view the building with
a global perspective because passengers either travel through the station on the basis of the
quickest journey time (Stochastic assignment) or the passenger flows are balanced on all routes
in order to minimize the total time for all routes (optimization or equilibrium assignment). The
developers suggest that occupants can be forced to follow exit signs as well, which may be
considered as an individual perspective.
Occupant behavior: Implicit behavior is modeled.
Occupant movement: Occupant movement is described by speed/flow curves of each block
obtained by previously observed movement in stations. Also, the model attempts to represent
the delays caused by behaviors of usage of certain facilities in the station. Each group type is
categorized by the flight type and purpose of the trip. The user identifies initial walking speeds
and group size as input.
A-20