Pedestrians' Route Choice Model for Shopping Behavior

This paper presents an agent-based model to address the pedestrian route choice problem in shopping malls. Route choice in shopping malls may be defined by a number of causal factors. Shoppers may follow a pre-defined schedule, they may be influenced by other people walking, or may want to get a glimpse of a familiar shopping. The route choice process assumes that the cost of each route can be calculated as a function of three factors: route length, impedance generated by other pedestrians and attraction for areas of interest on the environment. The impedance generated by the friction between pedestrians is assumed to exist even before physical contact, due to the psychological tendency to avoid passing close to individuals with high relative velocity. Pedestrians seek minimal route length and minimal friction with other pedestrians. In order to represent shopping areas environments, a new factor is being considered in the calculation of the route cost: the attraction for areas of interest on the environment. Simulation results were compared to real data collected by video recording in a shopping mall.