Calibration of a Pedestrian Route Choice Model with a Basis in Friction Forces

This paper presents a pedestrian route choice model and its calibration with real data. The model explicitly represents interaction between pedestrians as an impedance force influences their route choice. This model approach was inspired by friction force equations and considered efforts by pedestrians to avoid passing near other pedestrians with high relative velocity. The route choice process was a function of impedance force and route length. A social force model was used to model pedestrian walking behavior. The calibration had its basis in data acquired from a real experiment developed in a simplified network. Data collection had its basis in video analysis. The paper presents and discusses results from the calibration processes. The model presented in this paper differs from other pedestrian route choice models because it seamlessly incorporates a pedestrian social force model into the route choice decision process.