Abstract
The design of pedestrian sidewalks depends on pedestrian flow, which is related to the speed of
pedestrians on the sidewalk. The social force model (SFM) is a microscopic pedestrian simulation
model that has been able to reproduce many self- organization phenomena of pedestrian flow such
as lane formation. Studies have shown that the SFM has been modified to model particular pedestrian
behaviours in different situations by introducing new forces or introducing new factors in existing
forces. Also, the literature shows that pedestrian speed varies because of pedestrian characteristics
such as age, gender, group behaviour, and so forth. There are no studies that model the effect of these
pedestrian characteristics using the SFM. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to overcome the
above stated research gaps by creating a framework to model and simulate sidewalks using modified
social force model for Indian scenario considering heterogeneous pedestrian characteristics and
behavior. The modified Social force model proposed in this study is referred to as the Social Force
Model considering Pedestrian Characteristics and Behavior (SFMPCB). The SFMPCB can be used to
analyse and design any sidewalk staking into consideration the heterogeneous nature of pedestrian
with respect to its character like age, gender and behavior like walking in social groups, shopping etc.
This reduces the data collection effort that would otherwise be required for such analysis. In future
this model could be expanded to include other pedestrian facilities like crosswalk, foot over bridges
and skywalks etc.