Pedestrian models based on rational behaviour

Abstract

Following the paradigm set by attraction-repulsion-alignment schemes, a myriad of individual-based models have been proposed to calculate the evolution of abstract agents. While the emergent features of many agent systems have been described astonishingly well with force-based models, this is not the case for pedestrians. Many of the classical schemes have failed to capture the fine detail of crowd dynamics, and it is unlikely that a purely mechanical model will succeed. As a response to the mechanistic literature, we will consider a model for pedestrian dynamics that attempts to reproduce the rational behaviour of individual agents through the means of anticipation. Each pedestrian undergoes a two-step time evolution based on a perception stage and a decision stage. We will discuss the validity of this game theoretical-based model in regimes with varying degrees of congestion, ultimately presenting a correction to the mechanistic model in order to achieve realistic high-density dynamics.