Pedestrian traffic flow operations on a platform: observations and comparison with simulation tool SimPed

Abstract

The Delft University of Technology, in cooperation with Holland Railconsult, has developed the tool SimPed for simulating pedestrian operations in transfer stations. SimPed models all processes that are related to pedestrians inside a transfer station, such as walking, performing activities and route and activity location choices. In order to validate pedestrian flow modeling in SimPed and to study pedestrian traffic flow operations on a platform in detail, observations have been collected on a platform of a Dutch railway station. These observations concentrated on boarding and alighting times, (individual) walking times, and levels of service. This paper will describe the data collection effort and discuss in detail the results of the study such as numbers of boarding and alighting passengers, individual walking times and densities on the platform. The paper also makes a comparison between the observations and the modeling results of SimPed in an effort to show the validity of SimPed concerning pedestrian traffic flow operations.