In recent years over $A50m has been spent constructing new footbridges to sporting venues in Australia. The cost of these facilities depends on their width, which in turn, depends in part on their ability to carry crowds from sporting events. Two factors that are critical to pedestrian congestion are the rate at which crowds leave sporting venues, and footway capacity per metre width. This paper presents data from eleven sporting events. It concludes that crowds leave stadia very quickly after an event, typically 60 percent of the crowd leaves in the peak ten minutes. Maximum pedestrian saturation flows of around 80 pedestrians per minute per metre width were observed. These findings provide data upon which estimates of likely pedestrian congestion outside sporting venues can be made. (a)
Abstract