Optimal on-and off-boarding operations in urban mass transit

Optimal on-and off-boarding operations in urban mass transit
In this work, we are interested in optimizing the passenger flow between the station platform and vehicles (trams, trains or buses) at a public transport station. We propose a nonlinear programming (NLP) model to minimize the maximum door opening time at stations required for all passengers to board or alight the vehicle. The time needed for passengers to board and alight a vehicle follows a non-linear function that depends on the capacity of the platform and vehicle, the density inside the vehicle and the platform density. Our study intends to shed light to practitioners on how to design, and implement a passenger guidance system to minimize vehicle boarding and alighting times.