Modeling and simulation of passenger alighting and boarding movement in Beijing metro stations

This paper presents a cellular automata-based alighting and boarding micro-simulation model for passengers in Beijing metro stations. According to observations of passenger alighting and boarding behavior and an analysis of field data collected in three metro stations in Beijing, components of alighting and boarding time and the effects of different group sizes on the alighting and boarding performances are studied. Based on this analysis and investigation, items including individual desire, pressure from passengers behind, personal activity and tendencies (dependent on gender, age, etc.) are put forth as important factors that influence passenger behavior in certain external conditions. The transition probability defined by these factors is used to model passenger cooperation and negotiation at a microscopic level, while collective performance is used at the macroscopic level for the model validation. For model verification, simulation experiments that include a wide range of alighting and boarding group sizes and ratios were run. The results show that the behavior that arises from the model captures the fundamental traits of alighting and boarding movement. The model is helpful in the evaluation of functionality of facilities and passenger organizing in metro stations. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.