Two management strategies for improving passenger transfer experience in train stations

Exploiting the full potential of pedestrian infrastructures in order to satisfy the demand induced by public transport modes is key to achieving good level-of-service for passengers during transfers. High temporal variability in demand can lead to high congestion and possibly dangerous situations while the infrastructure is underused moments after. In order to improve the level-of-service experienced by pedestrians, two management strategies are investigated. Firstly, the utilization of gates to control the flows of passengers moving around the station is explored thanks to a PI control structure. Secondly, counter flow is minimized by dynamically adapting the space to the flows moving in opposing directions. This can be achieved by separating the corridor into two parts, one dedicated to each flow direction. The station of Lausanne, Switzerland is used as a case study for these strategies. Gating proved e ffi cient to limit congestion without significantly increasings the travel time of passengers. The expected results when separating counter flow are similar: an increase in comfort without negatively impacting travel time. Finally, the implementation of e ffi cient management strategies for pedestrians can significantly improve the transfer experience in transportation hubs by controlling the walking times between services.

Pedestrian management strategies for improving flow dynamics in transportation hubs

Michel Bierlaire, Nicholas Alan Molyneaux, Riccardo Scarinci

Forecasts predict a strong increase of the demand of public transport facilities in the next decades, close to doubling the number of users in the "Arc lémanique" area. This increase in demand can lead to congestion and poor level-of-service inside transportation hubs. The aim of this paper is to develop control strategies which aim at guiding pedestrians in hubs and improving the flow dynamics. The objective is to guarantee adequate level-of-service throughout the infrastructure. This is achieved by influencing the locations pedestrians dwell while waiting or the activities they perform before or after using a public transport mode. Not only are "hard" strategies developed (barriers for example) but "soft" strategies like information or advertisement are also used. These measures are coupled with a dynamic assignment and demand model to simulate the effect on pedestrian flows. To quantify the impact of such management strategies, a simulation framework is developed and the results are compared to real-life data collected in the train station of Lausanne. Through this framework, pedestrian control measures can be tested and validated before being implemented in practice, and the impact of such decisions can be maximized, furthermore the performance of the facility is improved.

2017

The impact of counter-flow on pedestrian walking times

Michel Bierlaire, Nicholas Alan Molyneaux, Riccardo Scarinci

Exploiting the full potential of pedestrian infrastructures is becoming vital in many environments which cannot be easily expanded to cope with the increasing demand. This is particularly true of train stations in many dense cities since space is limited. One solution to improve the level-of-service experienced by pedestrians is to regulate and control their movements with a dynamic traffic management system. In order to develop and test pedestrian specific control strategies a simulation laboratory is implemented. This numerical environment allows the validation of two control strategies dedicated to pedestrian dynamics: gating and flow separators. The effectiveness of these strategies has been investigated firstly by using a proof-of-concept setup to explore the sensitivity to some parameters, and secondly by simulating a subpart of the train station in Lausanne (Switzerland). Both strategies achieve their respective goals by preventing excessive congestion and decreasing the pedestrian's walking times.

2019

Design and analysis of control strategies for pedestrian flows

Michel Bierlaire, Nicholas Alan Molyneaux, Riccardo Scarinci

Exploiting the full potential of pedestrian infrastructure is becoming critical in many environments which cannot be easily expanded to cope with the increasing pedestrian demand. This is particularly true for train stations as in many dense cities space is limited and expansion is difficult and very costly. In this paper, we investigate how to improve the level-of-service experienced by pedestrians by regulating and controlling their movements with a dynamic traffic management system. Although dynamic traffic management systems have been widely investigated in the last two decades to mitigate vehicular traffic congestion, little attention has been given in the literature to dynamic traffic management systems for pedestrian flows. The objective of this paper is to develop the concept of a dynamic traffic management system for pedestrian flows by building on the experience acquired from vehicular traffic management systems. We first propose a general framework for dynamic traffic management systems which takes into account the specificities of pedestrian traffic. The specificities of pedestrian traffic are discussed and emphasized. Then we illustrate the framework by using a control strategy designed for pedestrian flows that mitigates the issues induced by bidirectional flows. We show the effectiveness of this strategy by simulating a subpart of the train station in Lausanne (Switzerland). The results show a substantial improvement despite the relative simplicity of the method. These results emphasize the under-explored potential of pedestrian control and guidance when integrated into a dynamic pedestrian management system.

SPRINGER2020