Identification of Factors Influencing the Evacuation Walking Speed in Padang, Indonesia

Abstract

This paper aims to identify factors influencing the walking speed of evacuees by conducting an evacuation drill in Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia. A number of 18 volunteers and 6 observers, were gathered in an evacuation experiment on 3 routes with 5 segments each. The chosen routes are almost equal in terms of distance, but different in terms of the number of turning points. The experiment comprises of three cases in terms of the complexity of the route. These cases represent a simple, a medium and a complex route based on the number of turning points. The volunteers were asked to move, as if in an evacuation, to a particular place which was assumed to be a shelter. The observers were placed at some particular waypoints to record the time when an evacuee passes their location. The distance between the observers was measured using a manual distance meter. This study found that the average walking speed during the evacuation was 1.69 m/s. In addition, walking speed varied by age, gender, and walking distance. This finding significantly has an effect on the estimations of the coverage area of tsunami shelters. The data collection method is one of the novelties of this research. In this study, the walking speed was observed through an evacuation drill from a location to a shelter of 1.5 km away, whilst most of the previous studies estimate the walking speed based on an observation of a group of pedestrians crossing a road.

Comparing the evacuation speed through a ramp and a stair in a tsunami evacuation drill in Padang

“…The special contribution of this paper was integration between horizontal evacuation from home to a shelter and vertical evacuation from the ground of the shelter building to the top of the building either through a ramp or a stair. This paper is an extension of our previous study which observed the walking speed of evacuees during an experiment of tsunami evacuation in Padang [15].…”

“…In a previous study, the variation of the walking speed was observed by age and by gender [6,28,29]. Yosritzal suggested adding the duration of the walk and the complexity of the route as a determinant of the walking speed [15]. Yosritzal developed three scenarios in the evacuation drill which were based on the complexity of the route [15].…”

“…Yosritzal [6] was among the first to assess the walking speed during an evacuation and found that the walking speed varies by age and gender. The study was extended to assess the role of route complexity and duration of the walking in [15]. Yosritzal found that the walking speed tends to be slower at the end section of the evacuation route because of fatigue [15].…”

“…The study was extended to assess the role of route complexity and duration of the walking in [15]. Yosritzal found that the walking speed tends to be slower at the end section of the evacuation route because of fatigue [15]. The finding of the study triggered a question: could the evacuees reach the top floor of the tsunami shelter before the tsunami wave arrives after walking from more than 1 km away?…”

Using Evacuation Drills to Improve Tsunami Evacuation Preparedness and Resilience

“…The author argued that this movie clip was a tool to help experts establish scenario-based evacuation strategies and to implement preparedness activities for non-expert citizens. In the same year, Yosritzal et al (2020) conducted an evacuation drill to analyze the effects on walking speed from age, gender, and walking distance in a community in Indonesia. The authors assigned six observers to record the travel time for 18 evacuees on three designed evacuation routes.…”