On the modeling of pedestrian flow on the Jamarat bridge

During the Moslem pilgrimage season the Jamarat bridge becomes congested with pilgrims, due to space and time constraints. This paper aims at developing a model for regulating pedestrian flow into the bridge. The model may provide facility designers and managers with a quantitative tool for predicting the level of congestion at specific regions on the bridge given the specific demand flow data and a particular control strategy. Thus various alternatives for controlling the flow can be examined. The model is also a tool for determination of the optimal level of flow such that the number of persons in those specific regions does not exceed some predetermined limit. An optimization model is constructed and an example is included.