Optimization of Metro Passenger Organizing of Alighting and Boarding Processes: Simulated Evidence from the Metro Station in Nanjing, China

Abstract

Since the long dwell time and chaotic crowds make metro trips inefficient and dissatisfying, the importance of optimizing alighting and boarding processes has become more prominent. This paper focuses on the adjustment of passenger organizing modes. Using field data from the metro station in Nanjing, China, a micro-simulation model of alighting and boarding processes based on an improved social force paradigm was built to simulate the movement of passengers under different passenger organizing modes. Unit flow rate, delay, and social force work (SFW) jointly reflect the efficiency and, especially, the physical energy consumption of passengers under each mode. It was found that when passengers alighted and boarded by different doors, efficiency reached its optimal level which was 76.92% higher than the status quo of Nanjing, and the physical energy consumption was reduced by 16.30%. Both the findings and the model can provide support for passenger organizing in metro stations, and the concept of SFW can be applied to other scenes simulated by the social force model, such as evacuations of large-scale activities, to evaluate the physical energy consumption of people.