Pedestrian flow characteristics of children: Investigating the influence of corridors with variable width on evacuating behaviors in kindergarten buildings

Due to the specific cognitive, physical and behavior traits, the movement characteristics of children may be different from that of adults. In this study, controlled experiments with 74 children pedestrians aged 4–6 were performed in a right-angled corridor to understand the impact of the corridor width (0.45–0.90 m) on the fundamental diagram and behavioral outcomes (trajectory deviations, competitive interactions). The narrow corridors (≤0.60 m) reduce velocity by 32 % compared to wider configurations (0.90 m). The optimal single-file flow in the experiment occurs at corridor with the width of 0.50 m, while bidirectional flows require 0.90 m to maintain efficiency. The result of research shows that turnaround modes (L→R vs. R→L) show negligible effects on evacuation performance. The width of single-file flow and bidirectional flows for children is different from the standard design requirements. These findings provide basic datasets and clues for the optimization of geometry designs of children’s activity space like kindergartens to enhance intrinsic safety.