Advanced Virtual Agents for Testing the Accessibility of Rail Stations
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Sixth Framework Programme Sustainable development, global change & ecosystems |
AVATARS is an ambitious project to create appropriate software tools that allow the testing and validating of rail terminal designs by using models to simulate the circulation movements of passengers within rail or metro stations. The modelling aspects of this collaborative EU project is lead by FSEG of the Centre for Numerical Modelling and Process Analysis, University of Greenwich. The project runs from 2005 - 2008
The partners for the project are: BMT Ltd, FSEG University of Greenwich, FGC Ferrocarrils de la
Generalitat de Catalunya, ATM Autoritat del Transport Metropolità , University of Salford and Buro Happold
Current rail transport infrastructure design is led by aesthetics and prescriptive regulations. This can pose problems in passenger intensive operations, where performance and comfort are major issues. Better rail terminal design would provide increased passenger throughput and less overcrowding but it is very difficult to design for performance without accurate simulation tools. Existing tools are available to simulate passenger evacuation but none have been developed that can incorporate both evacuation and general circulation movements.