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July 2012 www.sname.org/sname/mt HOW MODELING PEDESTRIAN DYNAMICS CAN ENABLE SAFER AND FASTER EVACUATION OF PASSENGERS SIMULATING EVACUABILITY BY DRACOS VASSALOS AND YASMINE HIFIAlthough pedestrian dynamics is a mature subject, the use of similar concepts to address passenger evacuation onboard large passenger ships dates back to the mid-1990s, initially with simpli ed models and subsequently with advanced evacuation models, using computer simula- tion. Advances in the intervening years involve generalization of scenarios to address evacuation in the presence of ooding, re hazards, and ship motions as well as the use of such tools for ship design and operational pur- poses. Such tools are becoming indispensable in addressing the safety of non-SOLAS compliant spaces onboard passenger ships.