counter-flow

Preventing congestion in crowd dynamics caused by reversing flow

In this paper we devise a microscopic (agent-based) mathematical model for reproducing crowd behavior in a specific scenario: a number of pedestrians, consisting of numerous social groups, flow along a corridor until a gate located at the end of the corridor closes.  People are not informed about the closure of the gate and perceive the blockage observing dynamically the local crowd conditions.  Once people become aware of the new conditions, they stop and then decide either to stay, waiting for reopening, or to go back and leave the corridor forever.  People going back hit against newly in