A model of the decision-making process during pre-evacuation

• This work introduces a new pre-evacuation modelling approach.
• The proposed model simulates the probability of choosing to investigate and evacuate.
• A case study of a cinema theatre experimental evacuation data set is presented.
• Factors influencing pre-evacuation in the case study are time, occupant’s position, social influence.

The behaviour of building occupants before the purposive movement towards an exit, known as the pre-evacuation behaviour, can have a strong impact on the total time required to leave a building in case of fire emergency as well as on the number of casualties and deaths. The pre-evacuation time can be simulated within computational models using different approaches. This work introduces a new model for the simulation of pre-evacuation behaviour based on the Random Utility Theory. The proposed model represents the pre-evacuation behaviour of simulated occupants considering three behavioural states: normal, investigating and evacuating. The model simulates the probability of choosing to start investigating and evacuating in relation to physical and social environmental factors as well as personal occupant characteristics. These two decisions make occupants pass from their starting normal states to investigating and evacuating states. The paper presents a case study of the proposed pre-evacuation time model using an experimental evacuation data set in a cinema theatre. The application of the model allows identifying the main factors affecting the decision to move from a state to another. In the present case study, the main factors influencing the decisions were the time elapsed since the start of the alarm, the occupant’s position, and social influence. The issues associated with the implementation of the model are discussed.