Evaluating crowding in individual train cars using a dynamic transit assignment model

Evaluating crowding in individual train cars using a dynamic transit assignment model

Peftitsi, Soumela (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Jenelius, Erik (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Cats, O. (TU Delft Transport and Planning; KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

2021

As travel demand grows in many cities around the world, overcrowding in public transport systems has become a major issue and has many negative effects for both users and operators. Measures to address on-board congestion span from large-scale strategic investments (e.g. increasing infrastructure capacity), through tactical planning (e.g. stopping pattern) to real-time operational measures (e.g. information provision, gate and escalator control). Thus there is a need to evaluate the impact of these measures prior to their implementation. To this end, this study aims at capturing the effective capacity utilization of the train, by considering passengers' distribution among individual train cars into an agent-based simulation model. The developed model is validated and applied to a case study for the Stockholm metro network. The findings suggest that an increase in peak hour demand leads to a more even passenger distribution among individual train cars, which partially counteracts the increased disutility caused by the higher passenger volumes. Interestingly, the closure of the most popular entrance point at one of the stations leads to lower train crowding unevenness at the downstream stops and consequently reduces passengers' experienced discomfort. We find that the user cost is significantly underestimated when passenger distribution among cars is not accounted for.

agent-based simulation
crowding
passenger distribution
Public transport
transit assignment

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:03df6d02-ea5c-4c34-9f09-ff1eec0cc9f8

https://doi.org/10.1080/21680566.2021.1939808

2021-12-16

2168-0566

Transportmetrica B: Transport Dynamics, 9 (1), 693-711

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 Soumela Peftitsi, Erik Jenelius, O. Cats