Dynamic analysis of stepping behavior of pedestrian social groups on stairs

Human movement dynamics is highly correlated with stepping locomotion. This paper aims to explore stepping behavior of pedestrian social groups on stairs through a field observation. A total of 96 singles and 194 pedestrian groups with different sizes were adopted as test subjects. Their stepping features such as speed, step length, step time and step width were obtained according to trajectory extraction and curvature calculation. Relations between these variables during ascending and descending movement on stairs are analyzed and compared. The effects of group sizes and movement processes on stepping locomotion are also discussed. It is discovered that both step time and step width for groups with larger size are significantly higher during descending movement. This study provides a new insight into stepping behavior of pedestrian groups on stairs, and is beneficial to group movement modelling and pedestrian facility design.