Foot Traffic During the Age of COVID
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198220300968
This research paper provides a mathematical analysis of foot traffic in an academic building in the time of COVID-19. Three assumptions are made: the risk of infection is correlated to exposure rate and time, exposure rate goes down as distance increases, and small exposure to a large group is seen as the same as a large exposure to a small group. The study found that in order to minimize risk, you must minimize exposure time (time spent in passing in hallways, for example). One-way foot traffic increases the time spent in hallways since students must now figure out how to get to their next class while abiding by the walkway direction, which could mean taking a longer route.
Ever since the implementation of directional walkways during the age of COVID, I had wondered what all went into determining these walkways. This study gave me a little insight into what administrations are thinking about when designing their directional walkways. There is obviously a lot more biological factors that go into the design, but looking solely at paths, it made me think about network traffic.
In chapter 6 of the course textbook, we learned that transportation networks involved fundamentally game-theoretic reasoning since players aren’t just concerned about choosing a route, they’re also concerned about congestion which can impact their travel time. In chapter 8 of the course textbook, we looked at these traffic networks again but this time added quantities and thought about Nash Equilibrium. We also introduced and dwelled upon Dietrich Braess’s 1968 paradox. These teachings relate to foot traffic in the age of COVID because the designers must view travel times as exposure times and will want to minimize it for all players (pedestrians). An interesting aspect, however, is that the administration has the power to manipulate the player’s choices. They can regulate the number of people occupying the walkways at a time and direct students to use other paths. As more studies like this one are released, it will be interesting to observe the mathematics and game theory behind foot traffic in the age of COVID.