Analyzing the characteristics of unidirectional bicycle movement around a track based on digital image processing

In this study, a very basic experiment of single-file bicycles moving in a circle passage was conducted. A video processing method was used to extract the relevant data such as trajectories, velocity, density, flow rate, time headway and so on. Afterwards, the relations between them were explained in detail. The relation between the flow rate and the density indicated that the flow rate is in proportion with the density before the congestion appears. It is also found that the interval between two bicycles is long but the time headway decreased as the density increased when the bicycles can move freely, while the situation is opposite when congestion occurs. Some of the results in this paper consist with those of other researchers. The purpose of this experiment is to provide basic experimental data and fundamental diagrams for single-file bicycles following movement. Results provided in this paper might be useful for validating related models and designing facility. (C) 2013 International Association for Fire Safety Science. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Asian-Oceania Association of Fire Science and Technology