Path-based crowding information in public transport based on the automated passenger counting data

Abstract

Travel experience in public transport networks is negatively affected by passenger overcrowding and incomplete travel information. In this study, we introduce a concept of path-based crowding information (CI), i.e. a personalized CI on cumulative travel comfort conditions, generated from the APC passenger flow data. It extends the classical CI concept by accounting for both passenger loads (between stops) as well as the dwelling exchanges (at stops) and emerging seat probability along the O-D travel path. The path-based CI framework is first applied on the toy network, and then on the APC data of Rzeszów case study (Poland), revealing additional seating possibility in up to 25% of all travel instances, and in over 40% of such cases – along the majority of their OD travel route. Our findings underscore the potential of personalised, path-based CI systems to improve travel experience, especially in congested PT networks.