arXiv subjects

Claudio Feliciani

Publications and source records attributed to Claudio Feliciani.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Effect of vehicle groups on heterogeneous disordered traffic flow

In heterogeneous disordered traffic, where various vehicle types operate without strict lane discipline, self-organized vehicle groups often emerge, but their influence remains unclear. This study examines how group prevalence and composition affect flow-density relationships using real-world trajectory data. Three Passenger Car Unit (PCU) estimation methods construct flow-density diagrams accounting for heterogeneity. Group proportion, the share of vehicles classified in groups, has a nonlinear, traffic-situation-dependent impact on flow. Moderate group proportions (30-60%) were more clearly associated with peak-flow or high-flow cases under denser traffic conditions, rather than consistently producing the highest representative flow in the median-based analysis. Comparing vehicle-count-based and PCU-based group proportions shows that normalization affects interpretation, particularly when groups consist mainly of small-PCU vehicles such as motorcycles. Lower group proportions were associated with relatively favorable flow under free-flow conditions, while entropy-based analysis shows that the association between entropy alone and speed is not consistent across traffic situations. Contrasting representative trends and extreme high-flow cases suggests that traffic at similar density and group proportion can exhibit low-efficiency and high-efficiency modes. Overall, group prevalence is important in shaping macroscopic traffic dynamics, while linking internal group composition to performance may require richer structural descriptors beyond a single entropy measure. These results imply condition-dependent bottom-up traffic control: encouraging favorable vehicle formations in denser traffic and preserving fluid leader-follower relations in free-flow traffic may improve heterogeneous traffic flow, especially with minimal infrastructure or driver-assistance technologies.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2026

Conflict Avoidance in Pedestrian Merging in Controlled Experiments by Variance Indicator

Pedestrian congestion at corridor intersections often originates from localized fluctuations in motion rather than from a macroscopic collapse of flow. Understanding pedestrian instability at corridor intersections remains challenging because existing studies mainly rely on density, average speed, or flow-based measures and limited datasets, making it difficult to separate geometric turning effects from interaction induced fluctuations in merging flows. In particular, the mechanism underlying the turning angle dependence in T junctions has not been resolved. Here, we analyze more than 300 controlled experiments conducted in L corridors with turning only and T corridors with turning and merging. Using Voronoi-based speed variance $V_s$ and velocity variance $V_v$, we systematically compare geometric and interaction effects. $V_s$ effectively captures interaction driven instability, while $V_v$ reflects directional adjustments due to geometry. The comparison reveals distinct fluctuation mechanisms and identifies a critical transition near $90°$, demonstrating the advantage of variance-based indicators for diagnosing pedestrian dynamics.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2025

Fundamental elements in the development of effective crowd control strategies

In this work, we present typical challenges encountered when developing methods for controlling crowds of people (or animal swarms). We discuss which elements shall be considered and the role they play to achieve a robust control in a variety of conditions. In particular, four different studies are reviewed, each of them investigating in detail important elements encountered in crowd steering and control. More specifically synchronization, compliance, crowd (or swarm) density and human perception are studied showing the role they play in combination. Ultimately, the success of a control strategy is determined by carefully considering the effect each element has on individuals, but also on the interactions between them, leading to the creation of a collective behavior. We will also highlight the importance of psychological and cognitive factors when dealing with human crowds, hinting at the fact that automatic control systems may achieve optimal performance, but may be not necessarily well perceived by people in terms of comfort. The discussion aims at showing recent trends and potentialities of crowd control systems, but should also warn on the risk in choosing a solution prioritizing optimization toward people's safety or comfort.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2023

How crowd accidents are reported in the news media: Lexical and sentiment analysis

The portrayal of crowd accidents by the media can influence public understanding and emotional response, shaping societal perceptions and potentially impacting safety measures and preparedness strategies. This paper critically examines the portrayal of crowd accidents in news coverage by analyzing the texts of 372 media reports of crowd accidents spanning 26 diverse news sources from 1900 to 2019. We investigate how media representations of crowd accidents vary across time and geographical origins. Our methodology combines lexical analysis to unveil prevailing terminologies and sentiment analysis to discern the emotional tenor of the reports. The findings reveal the prevalence of the term "stampede" over "panic" in media descriptions of crowd accidents. Notably, divergent patterns are observable when comparing Western versus South Asian media (notably India and Pakistan), unveiling a cross-cultural dimension. Moreover, the analysis detects a gradual transition from "crowd stampede" to "crowd crush" in media and Wikipedia narratives in recent years, suggesting evolving lexical sensitivities. Sentiment analysis uncovers a consistent association with fear-related language, indicative of media's propensity towards sensationalism. This fear-infused narrative has intensified over time. The study underscores the potential impact of language and sentiment in shaping public perspectives on crowd accidents, revealing a pressing need for responsible and balanced reporting that moves beyond sensationalism and promotes a nuanced understanding. This will be crucial for increasing public awareness and preparedness against such accidents.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2023

Social aspects of collision avoidance: A detailed analysis of two-person groups and individual pedestrians

Pedestrian groups are commonly found in crowds but research on their social aspects is comparatively lacking. To fill that void in literature, we study the dynamics of collision avoidance between pedestrian groups (in particular dyads) and individual pedestrians in an ecological environment, focusing in particular on (i) how such avoidance depends on the group's social relation (e.g. colleagues, couples, friends or families) and (ii) its intensity of social interaction (indicated by conversation, gaze exchange, gestures etc). By analyzing relative collision avoidance in the ``center of mass'' frame, we were able to quantify how much groups and individuals avoid each other with respect to the aforementioned properties of the group. A mathematical representation using a potential energy function is proposed to model avoidance and it is shown to provide a fair approximation to the empirical observations. We also studied the probability that the individuals disrupt the group by ``passing through it'' (termed as intrusion). We analyzed the dependence of the parameters of the avoidance model and of the probability of intrusion on groups' social relation and intensity of interaction. We confirmed that the stronger social bonding or interaction intensity is, the more prominent collision avoidance turns out. We also confirmed that the probability of intrusion is a decreasing function of interaction intensity and strength of social bonding. Our results suggest that such variability should be accounted for in models and crowd management in general. Namely, public spaces with strongly bonded groups (e.g. a family-oriented amusement park) may require a different approach compared to public spaces with loosely bonded groups (e.g. a business-oriented trade fair).

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2022

Analysis and modelling of macroscopic and microscopic dynamics of a pedestrian cross-flow

In this work we investigate the behaviour of a human crowd in a cross-flow. We first analyse the results of a set of controlled experiments in which subjects were divided into two groups, in such a way to explore different density settings, and asked to walk through the crossing area. We study the results of the experiment by analysing, along with traditional indicators such as density and velocity, also walking and body orientation, studying how these microscopic observables are influenced by density. Furthermore, we report a preliminary but quantitative analysis on the emergence of self-organising stripes in the crossing area. We also try to reproduce the empirical results using a hierarchy of models, which differ in the details of the body shape (using a disk-shaped body vs a more realistic elliptical shape) and in how collision avoiding is performed (using only information regarding "centre of mass" distance and velocity, or actually introducing body shape information). We verified that the most detailed model (i.e., using body shape information and an elliptical body) outperforms in a significant way the simplest one (using only centre of mass distance and velocity, and disk-shaped bodies). Furthermore, we observed that if elliptical bodies are introduced without using such information in collision avoidance, the performance of the model is relatively poor. Nevertheless, the difference between the different models is relevant only in describing the "tails" of the observable distributions, suggesting that the more complex models could be of practical use only for describing high density settings. We also verified that "stripe formation" emerges in all models.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2020

Some considerations on crowd Congestion Level

The concept of (crowd) Congestion Level ($CL$) was introduced in Feliciani et al (Transportation Research, 2018) and presented at the PED 2018 conference by C. Feliciani. Following the PED presentation, along with appreciation for the novel contribution, a few interesting questions were raised, concerning the integral/differential nature of the definition of $CL$, and the possibility of defining a related pure number. In these short notes we are going, although with no attempt at rigour or formality, to present some considerations suggesting that the two problems are related, and providing a possible solution. Furthermore, using both theoretical arguments and analysis of simulated data in complex scenarios, we will try to shed further light on the meaning and applications of this concept. Finally, we analyse some results of an experiment performed with human participants in a ``crossing-flows'' scenario.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2019

Experimental study on the evading behavior of individual pedestrians when confronting with an obstacle in a corridor

In this paper, controlled experiments have been conducted to make deep analysis on the obstacle evading behavior of individual pedestrians affected by one obstacle. Results of Fourier Transform show that with the increase of obstacle width, the frequency and amplitude of body sway would barely be affected while the lateral deviation of walking direction would largely increase. On the one hand, the relation among the extracted gait features including body sway, stride length, frequency and speed has been illustrated. On the other hand, the walking direction can be featured by three critical evading points where apparent change of walking direction could be observed. Gaussian function has been used to fit the walking direction, thus allowing to estimate the three critical points and examine their variation with the increase of obstacle size. Furthermore, the direct-indirect evading and left-right turning preference as well as the possible psychological motivations behind have been analyzed. It is indicated that direct-evading pedestrians have a higher walking efficiency and right-turning pedestrians have a stronger tendency to behave `direct'. Results of this paper are expected to provide practical evidence for the modeling of pedestrian dynamics affected by obstacles.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2019

Body-rotation behavior of pedestrians for collision avoidance in passing and cross flow

We observe body-rotation behavior of pedestrians to avoid others when they are moving in congested situations. In such cases, body orientation often differs from walking direction, i.e., pedestrians step sideways. In this paper, we focused on a deviation between body orientation and walking direction during collision avoidance by body rotation for counter-flows in narrow corridors quantitatively. We conducted simple experiments in which two pedestrians passed each other. We found that pedestrians rotated their bodies when the width of the corridor was smaller than the sum of the widths of the two pedestrians. This behavior was explained by analyzing the geometry of two ellipses circumscribing each other in a narrow corridor. Moreover, we developed a preliminary model and succeeded to simulate the deviation between body orientation and walking direction during passing observed in the experiments. Furthermore, we performed a cross-flow experiment, which is much more complex and realistic than the passing experiments and confirmed that body-rotation behavior is also an indispensable factor for complex and realistic scenarios.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2018

Pedestrians rotation measurement in bidirectional streams

This study presents an experimental measurement of pedestrians' body rotation in bidirectional streams. A mock-up corridor monitored using a camera placed on azimuthal position is used to study pedestrians' behavior in unidirectional and bidirectional flows. Additionally, a commercial tablet is fixed on the chest of sample pedestrians to examine their body rotation (or yawing) which cannot be obtained using position tracking alone. Angular velocity is recorded and simultaneously stored in a central location using a wireless network, thus allowing the analysis of body movements with a high sampling rate and a limited delay. To investigate the influence of major/minor flow proportion (flow-ratio) on bidirectional streams two different situations were tested: the balanced configuration (with equal flows in both directions) and an unbalanced configuration (with different major and minor flow). Results clearly show that unidirectional flow is more stable compared to the bidirectional case, requiring less time to cross the experimental section and showing a very small amount of rotation during the whole experiment. Both bidirectional configurations showed high values of body rotation, in particular during lane formation and dissolution. Finally, rotation directly measured on pedestrians' body was compared with the one obtained indirectly by analyzing pedestrians' trajectories. The comparison shows that, at least from a qualitative point of view, both methods are in agreement, thus suggesting that even properties which can only be measured by motion sensing could be obtained indirectly through the analysis of trajectories. Concluding, it has been suggested that while lanes help smooth out bidirectional flows, larger instabilities are observed compared to the unidirectional case. Lane separation and/or appropriate guidance are therefore required.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2017

Micro and Macro Pedestrian Dynamics in Counterflow: the Impact of Social Groups

Although it is widely recognised that the presence of groups influences microscopic and aggregated pedestrian dynamics, a precise characterisation of the phenomenon still calls for evidences and insights. The present paper describes micro and macro level original analyses on data characterising pedestrian behaviour in presence of counter-flows and grouping, in particular dyads, acquired through controlled experiments. Results suggest that the presence of dyads and their tendency to walk in a line-abreast formation influences the formation of lanes and, in turn, aggregated observables, such as overall specific flow.

cs.MA↗

arXiv2016

Social Groups and Pedestrian Crowds: Experiment on Dyads in a Counter Flow Scenario

The calibration and validation of pedestrian simulations require the acquisition of empirical evidences of human behaviour. The current work presents the results of an experiment focused on the potentially combined effect of counter flow and grouping on pedestrian dynamics. In particular, we focused on: (i) four different configurations of flow ratio (the rate between the minor flow and the total flow in bidirectional scenarios); (ii) dyads, as the most frequently observed and basic social groups of crowds. Results showed that the increase of flow ratio negatively impacted the speed of pedestrians. Dyads walked significantly slower than singletons, due to the difficulty in movement coordination among group members (proxemics) in case of counter flow. The collected results represent an useful contribution towards the validation of pedestrian simulations.

cs.MA↗