Emergency Evacuation Capacity of Subway Stations

The objective of this study is to establish and evaluate an Emergency Evacuation Capacity (EEC) model for key evacuation facilities in subway stations through analyzing key factors that affect the emergency evacuation These key facilities, which include exit, stairway, passage and turnstile, are analyzed from three aspects: characteristic of evacuees, evacuation facility, evacuation organization and management. The emergency evacuation capacity model for subway station is built based on pedestrian flow theory. In addition, a case study is conducted to look at the handling capacity of the selected station. The result from this study will be beneficial for guiding and improving subway station design. It has significance to improving emergency response ability of rail transit system.