We study the evacuation process from a classroom by means of experiments and simulations. The evacuation of students from a classroom is observed by video cameras, and the escape time of each student is measured. Our experimental results are compared with simulations based on a lattice gas model of pedestrian flows. We find that the empirically identified inefficiencies of the evacuation process can be well reproduced. Our particular focus is on the spatial dependence of the escape times on the initial positions, which is highly significant. The escape time distribution turns out to be rather broad due to a jamming (queuing) of the students at the exit, which determines not only the saturation flow (capacity) but also the temporal characteristics of the evacuation dynamics.

• Received 23 December 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.67.067101