Simulation of pedestrian flow based on cellular automata: A case of pedestrian crossing street at section in China

•A novel CA model is built to simulate the process of pedestrians crossing street.•Attraction of pedestrians who are in the same direction is considered in this model.•The simulation results are similar to the results of our investigation in China.•Capital densities of pedestrians crossing street in various conditions are analyzed.•This simulation model can help city designers to evaluate pedestrian facilities.

One of the purposes of pedestrian studies is to evaluate the effects of a proposed program on the pedestrian facilities before its implementation. In order to evaluate the level of service (LOS) of a pedestrian facility, a microscopic model is built to simulate the process of pedestrian crossing street. Most of the existing models focus on the occupant evacuation flow in buildings; however, they are not appropriate for pedestrians in the traffic. According to the characteristics of pedestrian crossing street at signalized crosswalks, we build a model based on cellular automata. Both of the system size and cell size are coordinate with the reality. Depending on the contrast of three parameters of pedestrian flow between simulation data and the reality data, we found that this model is analogous to the real process of pedestrian crossing street at signalized sections. Finally, simulation and its results can provide guidance for evaluating the effects of pedestrian facilities before their implementation.