Recent Developments in Pedestrian Flow Theory and Research in Russia

Predtechenskii and Milinskii’s seminal work [1] in relation to pedestrian flows is well known. However, analysis of the experimental results and observations obtained from this series of experimental studies revealed the inherent statistical non-homogeneity of pedestrian flow speeds [2]. As such, the results of these individual experiments cannot be integrated to produce a valid general expression V=f(D) for each type of pedestrian flow path ,where V is the flow velocity and D is the flow density. This paper presents further pedestrian flow research conducted in Russia post 1969.In this paper pedestrian flow is treated as a stochastic process, ie, that which might be observed in a series of experiments as a manifestation of the random function V=f(D). A fundamentally new random methodology to mathematically describe this function is presented. Corresponding computer simulation models “Analysis of Foot Traffic Flow Probability” (ADLPV) [3-7, 9-10] and “Free Foot Traffic Flow” (SDLP) [3, 8, 9, 11] are described. The high degree of correspondence between observed pedestrian flows and the output from these models has been sufficient for the models to be accepted by statutory authorities and used in building design and regulation in Russia [12-14] for many years.