Collection, spillback, and dissipation in pedestrian evacuation: A network-based method

We present a method of predicting pedestrian route choice behavior and physical congestion during the evacuation of indoor areas with internal obstacles. Under the proposed method, a network is first constructed by discretizing the space into regular hexagonal cells and giving these cells potentials before a modified cell transmission model is employed to predict the evolution of pedestrian flow in the network over time and space. Several properties of this cell transmission model are explored. The method can be used to predict the evolution of pedestrian flow over time and space in indoor areas with internal obstacles and to investigate the collection, spillback, and dissipation behavior of pedestrians passing through a bottleneck. The cell transmission model is further extended to imitate the movements of multiple flows of pedestrians with different destinations. An algorithm based on generalized cell potential is also developed to assign the pedestrian flow.     

Using automated walking gait analysis for the identification of pedestrian attributes

Collecting microscopic pedestrian behavior and characteristics data is important for optimizing the design of pedestrian facilities for safety, efficiency, and comfortability. This paper provides a framework for the automated classification of pedestrian attributes such as age and gender based on information extracted from their walking gait behavior. The framework extends earlier work on the automated analysis of gait parameters to include analysis of the gait acceleration data which can enable the quantification of the variability, rhythmic pattern and stability of pedestrian’s gait. In this framework, computer vision techniques are used for the automatic detection and tracking of pedestrians in an open environment resulting in pedestrian trajectories and the speed and acceleration dynamic profiles. A collection of gait features are then derived from those dynamic profiles and used for the classification of pedestrian attributes. The gait features include conventional gait parameters such as gait length and frequency and dynamic parameters related to gait variations and stability measures. Two different techniques are used for the classification: a supervised k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) algorithm and a newly developed semi-supervised spectral clustering. The classification framework is demonstrated with two case studies from Vancouver, British Columbia and Oakland, California. The results show the superiority of features sets including gait variations and stability measures over features relying only on conventional gait parameters. For gender, correct classification rates (CCR) of 80% and 94% were achieved for the Vancouver and Oakland case studies, respectively. The classification accuracy for gender was higher in the Oakland case which only considered pedestrians walking alone. Pedestrian age classification resulted in a CCR of 90% for the Oakland case study.     

行人-汽车碰撞试验腿部模块的可变形膝关节参数设计

根据行人-汽车碰撞中对行人腿部碰撞保护相关技术法规的要求,针对行人下肢的损伤机理,分析了腿部可变形膝关节部件的设计方法。通过力学模型的建立和分析,提出了确定膝关节部件结构类型、尺寸和材料的力学计算方法以及部件标定试验验证方案。经算例和部件的标定试验验证,该设计方法满足EEVCWG10的弯曲部分技术要求,可变形膝关节设计原理和分析方法可以为其他行人腿部模块技术规范中的部件设计提供参考。     

相容性车身及行人假人

近年来,随着各国正面碰撞试验法规的实施,汽车的碰撞安全性能有了显著的提高。然而,由于在碰撞中存在两车辆的“质量”、“刚度”和“结构”并不相同的情况,当大车与小车发生正面碰撞时,往往会导致小车乘员舱产生比较大的变形,因此提高小车的自我保护性能就显得尤为重要。为了达到正面碰撞中两车的相容性,本文介绍了一种新型车身结构在实车中的应用情况,以及其提升车辆安全性能的作用,并简要介绍了本田汽车公司在行人保护方面所做的研究。     

路网环境下考虑大型车混入率的事故疏散诱导模型

大型车的混入对高速公路交通流产生了较大的影响，尤其是在交通事故情景下。为了引导事故条件下驾驶人和组织者做出高效准确的决断，将考虑了大型车混入率的动态空间占有率模型引入到交通波模型，构建干涉与非干涉情景下的交通事故影响模型。以郑尧高速为例，对模型的准确性和可行性进行了验证，分别对干涉情景下的疏散时间、疏散量以及事故发生的位置，车辆数等指标与事故影响程度的指标（包含事故最远排队长度，事故持续时间）关系进行分析。研究结果表明：疏散时间与事故影响程度成正相关关系，疏散量与事故影响程度成负相关关系，而事故发生点与上游匝道之间的距离与其关系不大；道路服务水平为0.456，车辆数为1 321 veh·h^-1时，为了使得分合流区不受影响，在不采取任何措施的情景下，应将大型车混入率控制在50.1%以下，使得最远排队长度在10 km内；当大型车混入率大于58%时，将很难通过干涉引导避免对上游分合流区产生影响；在35 min以内采取干涉措施的效果最为明显，而大于35 min时，事故持续时间会发生一个急剧的增加，不利于路网恢复，之后事故恢复时间将趋于平稳；对道路交通量进行模拟可知交通量每增加50 veh，疏散时间和距离增加的范围为[1.5 min，3.6 min]和[1.209 km，1.543 km]。研究结果可为高速公路事故诱导策略制定和疏散效果提升提供参考。     

轿车行人保护技术发展的重要性

行人安全越来越成为人们关注的重要问题,文章针对行车过程中行人伤害特点来说明行人保护技术研究的重要意义。随着我国将于2013年正式实施《汽车对行人的碰撞保护》标准,必然将推动我国行人保护技术的快速发展。文章结合行人保护技术的发展历程及现阶段此项技术研究的方法和应用现状,为此方面的研究工作提供参考,从而使我国汽车工业得以更加完善发展。     

Performance comparison between pedestrian push-button and pre-timed pedestrian crossings at midblock: a Korean case study

Walking has been highlighted as an independent transportation mode as well as an access/egress mode to/from public transit to encourage the use of more sustainable transport systems. However, walking does not seem to have priority over other transportation modes, especially in areas where various modes of movement are in conflict. The pedestrian push-button system seems to be a solution to distribute the right of way. The focus of this study is on the performance issue of the pedestrian push-button. Specifically, this study deals with issues related to mid-block crossings and attempts to answer two questions: whose waiting time is longer at pre-timed and push-button crossings, pedestrians, or vehicles? and which system – pre-timed or push-button – is better in terms of total waiting time? According to our simulation analyses, if the pedestrian flow rate is less than 120, 85, and 70 ped/h for two-, three-, and four-lane roads, respectively, the push-button system is recommended.     

Dynamic demand estimation and microscopic traffic simulation of a university campus transportation network

Abstract

This article documents the authors' experience with the modeling, simulation, and analysis of a university transportation system, using the TRansportation ANalysis and SIMulation System (TRANSIMS). The processes of data preparation and network coding are described, followed by the algorithm developed to estimate the dynamic 24-hour demand, which includes a procedure for estimating the ‘desirability’ of the different parking lots from readily available data. The dynamic demand estimation algorithm is validated by comparing estimated and observed parking lot occupancies, where it is shown that the algorithm is capable of replicating observed results. Finally, an example is included to demonstrate how the developed model can be used in campus transportation planning. Besides serving as a first case study for using TRANSIMS to model a university campus, the study's contributions include the development of a procedure for parking lot desirability ranking and a practical procedure for estimating dynamic demand on university campuses.     

国内乘用车对行人下腿碰撞保护现状

为研究我国国内乘用车对行人下腿型碰撞保护现状,文章以35款国内车型下腿型碰撞试验为基础,对试验结果数据进行了数据分段统计,并根据试验条件对结果数据进行了分析,从数据整体分布、车型特点及碰撞区域特征3个方面展开论述,提出了国内车型在改善行人下腿型碰撞保护性能方面亟需解决的问题和应当深入研究的方向。最后对行人下腿型碰撞保护试验的发展趋势进行了展望。