Social distancing slows down steady dynamics in pedestrianflows

• Published in: Physics of fluids (1994) Vol. 33; no. 10
• Main Authors: Kramer, Kelby B, Wang, Gerald J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melville American Institute of Physics 01.10.2021
• Subjects: Counterflow; Density; Disease control; Fluid dynamics; Independent variables; Jamming; Pedestrian traffic flow; Pedestrians; Physics; Public health; Social distancing; Social factors; Two dimensional models
• ISSN: 1070-6631; 1089-7666

Amidst the ongoing pandemic, social distancing has been broadly adopted as an effectivefront-line defense strategy for mitigating disease transmission. Viewed through the lensof particle-based simulations of flow, the practice of social distancing corresponds to a(significant) increase in an internal length scale of the flow, namely, the radius withinwhich particles (pedestrians) strongly repel fellow particles. In this study, we reportthe results of two-dimensional pedestrian dynamics simulations modeling pedestriancounter-flows under confinement, in which individual pedestrians are described as activeparticles that aim to maintain a target speed while avoiding collisions. By systematicallyvarying two quantities—the pedestrian density and the degree of social distancing—wecompute fundamental diagrams for confined and socially distanced pedestrian flows, whichshow average pedestrian speed as a function of density and social distancing. Theseresults reveal the sensitive dependence of average velocity on both independent variables,including a social distancing-induced jamming transition. These results highlight the needfor both deliberate planning and careful public-health messaging regarding socialdistancing as shared indoor spaces return to appreciable levels of occupation.