Exit Choice Behavior of Pedestrians Involving Individuals with Disabilities During Building Evacuations

Nirdosh Gaire, Ziqi Song, Keith M. Christensen, Mohammad Sadra Sharifi, Anthony Chen

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Pedestrian evacuation studies are critical in obtaining information about evacuation scenarios and in preparing to face the challenges of actual evacuations. Studies have examined evacuation policies, exit choice modeling, and evacuation curve analysis. Some studies have addressed the evacuation behavior of individuals with disabilities (IWDs), although this important aspect of evacuation seems to be missing from modeling of the exit choice in many studies. In modeling of the exit choice for evacuation, many studies have been found to be based on the stated preference survey method, where evacuees are asked to choose an exit based on descriptions, without an actual experiment taking place. This study focuses on the discrete choice model of the exit choice in the room for both IWDs and individuals without disabilities (IWODs). The results demonstrate that the presence of IWDs in the group plays a crucial role in the exit choice for all evacuees. The results demonstrate that there are significant differences in exit choice between IWDs and IWODs. Current evacuation policies have been found to be more focused on visual signs, while this study demonstrates that these visual signs are of little importance to individuals with visual disabilities.
Original languageEnglish
JournalTransportation Research Record
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 1 Mar 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Exit Choice Behavior of Pedestrians Involving Individuals with Disabilities During Building Evacuations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this