Analysis of Space-Time Variation of Passenger Flow and Commuting Characteristics of Residents Using Smart Card Data of Nanjing Metro

Wei Yu,Jun Chen,Hua Bai,Xingchen Yan

doi:10.3390/su11184989

Wei Yu, Jun Chen + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184989

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Abstract

The rapid development of cities has brought new challenges and opportunities to traditional traffic management. The usage of smart cards promotes the upgrading of intelligent transportation systems, and also produces considerable big data. As an important part of the urban comprehensive transportation system, Nanjing metro has more than 1 million inbound and outbound records of traffic smart cards used by residents every day. How to process these traffic data and present them visually is an urgent problem in modern traffic management. In this study, five working days with normal weather conditions in Nanjing were selected, and the swiping records of the smart cards were extracted, and the space–time characteristics were analyzed. In terms of time analysis, this research analyzed the 24-h fluctuation of daily average passenger flow, peak hour coefficient of passenger flow, 24-h fluctuation of passenger flow on different metro lines, passenger flow intensity on different metro lines and passenger flow comparison at different stations. In spatial analysis, this study uses thermodynamic charts to represent the inflow and outflow of passengers at different stations during early and evening peak periods. The analysis results and visualized images directly reflect the area where Nanjing metro congestion is located, and also shows the commuting characteristics of residents. It can solve the problem of urban congestion, carry out the rational layout of urban functional areas, and promote the sustainable development of people and cities.

Highlights

With the continuous expansion of urban scale, the integrated transportation system is becoming more and more complex to meet the emergence needs of different residents
The large data of urban metro passenger flow mainly comes from the information of passenger card swiping
Based on the smart card data of the Nanjing metro system in China, Fu X et al studied the changes of passenger flow and travel time after the new metro line 4 opened in 2017 [19]

Summary

Introduction

With the continuous expansion of urban scale, the integrated transportation system is becoming more and more complex to meet the emergence needs of different residents. In the research of metro big data, some researchers use the smart card data of automatic checking ticket systems to study the travel law of passenger flow. Based on the smart card data of the Nanjing metro system in China, Fu X et al studied the changes of passenger flow and travel time after the new metro line 4 opened in 2017 [19]. The smart card data of Nanjing metro were used to select the representative passenger inbound and outbound records of five working days and the space–time characteristics of the passenger flow in the metro were analyzed. This study uses thermodynamic charts to represent the inflow and outflow of passengers at different stations during early and evening peak periods These visual figures provide a useful attempt to understand traffic data intuitively. Traffic planning and urban commercial planning can be combined to achieve the dynamic balance of residents’ residence and work, improve the level of urban public services, and promote the sustainable development of the city

Opening Lines of Nanjing Metro

Nanjing Population Situation

Weather and Workday Selection

Big Data Sources and Analysis Procedure

Conclusions

Findings