UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Analyzing the Effect of Crowds on Passenger Behavior Inside Urban Trains through Laboratory Experiments—A Pilot Study

Seriani, S; Barriga, JM; Peña, A; Valencia, A; Aprigliano, V; Jorquera, L; Pinto, H; ... Fujiyama, T; + view all (2022) Analyzing the Effect of Crowds on Passenger Behavior Inside Urban Trains through Laboratory Experiments—A Pilot Study. Sustainability , 14 (22) , Article 14882. 10.3390/su142214882. Green open access

[thumbnail of Fujiyama_Analyzing the Effect of Crowds on Passenger Behavior Inside Urban Trains through Laboratory Experiments-A Pilot Study_VoR.pdf]
Preview
PDF
Fujiyama_Analyzing the Effect of Crowds on Passenger Behavior Inside Urban Trains through Laboratory Experiments-A Pilot Study_VoR.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The objective is to study the distribution of passengers inside urban trains for different levels of crowding. The study is carried out through the observation of videos made by laboratory experiments in which a mock-up of a carriage represented the boarding and alighting process. The Fruin’s Level of Service (LOS) was adopted, but with a different approach, in which the train is divided into five zones (central hall, central aisle, side aisle, central seats and side seats). The experiments are based on the behavior of passengers in the London Underground; however, this study could be expanded to any conventional rail or LRT system. For the laboratory experiments, it is proposed to build a metro carriage and a corresponding platform section, and the scenarios will include different levels of crowding of passengers boarding and alighting to produce a variation in the density on the platform. According to the crowding level, the results allow obtaining the distribution and movements generated by passengers in the five zones for different instants of time during the process of boarding and alighting. It is observed that passengers are distributed according to safety and efficiency conditions. For example, passengers tried to avoid contact with each other unless it is inevitable. In relation to comfort, the seats of the carriage are always used even if there is a low level of crowding. If the crowding level increases, the boarding and alighting time go up. In addition, passengers will spend one or two seconds more if the “let’s get off before getting on the carriage” behavior is breached. This kind of experiment can be used in further research as a way to test “what-if” scenarios using this new method of discretization of the space inside the train, which cannot be tested in existing stations due to restrictions such as the weather, variability of the train frequency, current design of the trains, among others. New experiments are necessary for future research to include other types of passengers such as people with disabilities or reduced mobility.

Type: Article
Title: Analyzing the Effect of Crowds on Passenger Behavior Inside Urban Trains through Laboratory Experiments—A Pilot Study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/su142214882
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/su142214882
Language: English
Additional information: © 2022 by the Authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: passenger; train; distribution; crowding; boarding and alighting time; behavior
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10164091
Downloads since deposit
Loading...
110Downloads
Download activity - last month
Loading...
Download activity - last 12 months
Loading...
Downloads by country - last 12 months
Loading...

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item