A mean-field model is presented to mimic the pedestrian channel flow with a
bottleneck. The pedestrian flow is described by the mean-field rate equati
on on the square lattice. The dynamical transition from the free flow to th
e choking flow is studied by carrying out a numerical simulation for the me
an-field rate equation under open boundary conditions. The phase diagram is
found numerically and analytically. The scaling behavior is investigated f
or the transition point and the saturated flow rate in the choking-flow reg
ion. It is shown that the transition point does not depend on the strength
of drift. The transition point and saturated flow rate agree with those obt
ained by a one-dimensional approximation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science BN. All
rights reserved.