Toward a Simulation-based Approach for Emergency Evacuation Route Planning in Metro Stations

Abstract

This paper presents a systematic simulation-based approach with detailed step-by-step procedures for route planning in emergency evacuation in metro stations. In accordance with emergency evacuation mechanism analysis, the length of evacuation route (L), the time of evacuation (T) and the density of pedestrian flow (D) are identified as critical factors that affect the performance of emergency evacuation. With all the critical factors, such as L, T and D, taken into account, a comprehensive multi-attribute decision algorithm is developed in order to optimize the selection of evacuation route under emergency. Taking the Hongshan Station in Wuhan metro systems as an example, the Anylogic tool is used to simulate the scenario of evacuation route planning in case of a fire. The simulation results regarding the evacuation performance indicators are analyzed and compared between the traditional and proposed approaches. Results indicate that the proposed approach can reduce the evacuation time without increasing the route length, and improve greatly the crowded conditions of pedestrian flow. The developed approach can provide guidelines and support for the optimization of evacuation route planning under emergency conditions.