The analysis of escape routes and pedestrian movement are fundamental elements within an overall ‘fire safety strategy’.
Simplistic quantitative methodologies are available in some engineering Standards, e.g. NFPA 130: Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems is used routinely to model passenger evacuation from underground railway stations.
For ‘non-standard’ situations, such as complex multi-level buildings for example, a more sophisticated modelling approach is required.
Halcrow has developed two in-house software packages over the past two decades - PEDROUTE and PAXPORT, which incorporate a robust and dynamic routing algorithm. Although we no longer market this software we remain skilled users in both packages.
These codes allow automated routing of passengers through space simulation packages for the movement and escape of large numbers of individuals through complex geometries; work is currently underway to link egress models to CFD simulations, creating a state-of-the-art technology.