Probes in the simulation report data every 60th of a second--the reaction time for human movement--to allow Torrens to track every action and interaction. Each colored line represents the path of an individual agent. By subjecting the space-time signature of every individual to spatial and social network analyses, Torrens can identify the sources of gridlock in both the crowd and the urban infrastructure. Torrens also considers the toruosity--the crookedness--of each agent's path. The straighter the path is from the start point to the goal, the more efficient the movement; if a path deviates from "normal" behavior, the agent has panicked and is moving inefficiently.

Read the data article as it appears in the April, 2008 Issue.