Impact of emergency evacuation signage systems on passenger behavior during subway fires

Abstract

To explore the influence of emergency evacuation signs on passenger behavior during subway fires and improve evacuation efficiency in emergencies, this paper proposes a dynamic emergency evacuation sign system. A simulation platform integrating building information modeling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) technologies was employed to create subway fire evacuation scenarios using both the current and proposed dynamic emergency evacuation signage systems. Through simulation experiments, fine-grained microscopic data on passenger behavior was collected. Seven indicators were selected to assess evacuation efficiency and wayfinding difficulty. The analysis explored the influence of evacuation signs on passenger behavior in both overall and decision-making areas, thereby validating the effectiveness of the new emergency evacuation signage system. The results show that the dynamic evacuation signage system significantly improves overall passenger evacuation efficiency and reduces decision-making errors. It also improves wayfinding efficiency in critical decision areas by reducing the need for direction identification, minimizing stopping times, and lowering the frequency of decision errors. The method for evaluating the effects of emergency evacuation signs on passenger evacuation behavior proposed in this study provides a robust theoretical basis for the design and optimization of emergency-oriented signs.

Keywords

emergency evacuation signs / subway fire incidents / evacuation behavior / building information modeling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) simulation technology / optimal design

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Funding

Beijing Natural Science Foundation-Fengtai Rail Transit Frontier Research Joint Foundation(L211024)

National Natural Science Foundation of China(52072012)