Optimal admission time for shifting the audience

The lattice gas model of pedestrians is presented to mimic shifting of the audience through a gate. The optimal admission time for shifting the audience is related with the jamming transition of pedestrian flow. When the audience goes away through a gate, a clogging occurs and the flow rate saturates. Until the clogging disappears, it is hard for the visitors to enter the hall even if they try to be admitted into the hall through the gate. The jammed state appears at the gate by colliding of the audience going away with the entering visitors. If one delays successfully the admission time for the visitors to enter the hall, the visitors can be admitted without jams. The dynamical transition between the jammed state and shifting state occurs by varying the delay of admission time. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.