'Waiting time' for evacuation in crowded areas

There are at least three components in the total evacuation time, though many different components are proposed in the literature. These are the human response time, the travel time and the waiting time. For public access places such as shopping malls and transport interchanges, the waiting time is observed to be the most important component in evacuation under crowded conditions. This part will be studied in this paper. The geometrical shape and evacuation design in 69 malls and public access areas used to be crowded were surveyed. Evacuation times were simulated under two occupant loadings. One is for shopping mall and the other for public access area in following the local evacuation codes. Results were used to estimate the possible waiting time during evacuation tinder these crowded conditions. It is further confirmed that waiting time is a key element for evacuation in those crowded areas. More attention should be paid on specifying waiting time allowed while designing evacuation. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.