Study on Behavior of Social Groups in Pedestrian Flow at Staircase of Foot-Over Bridge of a Railway Station

Most of the pedestrian facilities with pedestrian flow is not specifically governed by traffic rules but is more based on the social and psychological aspects of individual pedestrians. The pedestrian crowds generally consist of social groups and the group interactions greatly affect crowd behavior thus, it is necessary to understand the effect of groups on pedestrian flow. However, most of the research in this area has not considered group dynamics of pedestrian flow on pedestrian facilities like staircase of foot-over bridge of railway station. The characteristics of pedestrian flow while moving up and down stairs of foot-over bridge at railway stations in Villupuram, India, have been studied. Using the video graphic method, data is collected during morning and evening peak periods. The movement trajectories were extracted using a semi-automated pedestrian trajectory extractor. The individual and group characteristics were further compared to study the effect of social groups on walking behavior of pedestrian flow. The inferences from this study can be further used to understand crowd dynamics and improve pedestrian facilities. The design requirements may be amended to meet the demands of pedestrians and to provide effective management of pedestrian flows at the train station’s staircase of foot-over bridge.