Comparing the route-choice behavior of pedestrians around obstacles in a virtual experiment and a field study

Problem & Motivation

(1) Can we confirm the effects of three factors (local distance to routes and the pedestrian density and walking speeds along routes) on route choice of pedestrians as predicted by the literature (nature of effects is discussed above)? This will confirm previous findings in a novel context.

(2) Are these effects qualitatively the same in observational data of real pedestrian behavior and in a virtual experiment with a nearly identical route choice setup? This will provide empirical evidence on the similarity of human route choice behavior in real pedestrians and of human participants in simple virtual experiments on pedestrian behavior, an emerging technology that is rapidly gaining popularity.

Methods

We focus on the effects of three factors on the route choice of pedestrians around obstacles (the difference of density around two neighboring routes, the difference in average speeds of pedestrians using two adjacent routes and distance from the positions of pedestrians to different routes). We compare the results between field observation and virtual experiment qualitatively.

Related Publication

H. Li, J. Zhang, L. Xia, W. Song, and N. W. F. Bode, "Comparing the route-choice behavior of pedestrians around obstacles in a virtual experiment and a field study," Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, vol. 107, pp. 120-136.

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