EVALUATING PASSENGER EVACUATION STRATEGIES IN A MASS RAPID TRANSIT STATION IN THAILAND

Abstract

Rail transit plays a significant role to serve major commuters in many large and congested cities. In Bangkok metropolitan region in Thailand, several mass rapid transit (MRT) lines and stations are currently being constructed and operated. To perform efficient safety and operational performances, the analysis of pedestrian traffic flow within transit stations under normal and emergency circumstances is a crucial step for planning, design, and operations of station facilities. This study focuses on applying the pedestrian traffic simulation to model the characteristics of passengers and then evaluate passenger evacuation strategies in mass rapid transit stations. The pedestrian's walking behavior and characteristics were observed. Three evacuation strategies were examined including (a) Evacuation to Ground Level; (b) Evacuation to Train; and (c) Evacuation to Track Level. The evacuation times under a given number of evacuate occupants were evaluated, and the bottleneck of evacuation strategies was identified. A case study of Tao Poon mass rapid transit station was carried out. The results showed that the pedestrian traffic simulation technique provides great flexibility in modeling different scenarios in emergency situations and evaluating the dynamic nature of pedestrian flow characteristics. It is also useful to planners, designers, and operators of rail transit systems in practice.