Study on Pedestrian Traffic Characteristics of Transfer Passageways in Subway Transfer Stations

Gradually, with the accomplishment of a subway network system in Beijing, more and more passengers need to transfer between different lines. Because of the mass volume and design problem, most of the transfer stations only have one passageway for one transfer direction. The transfer stations become the busiest at the weakest points in the subway system. But, because of the arrival pattern, the relationships among traffic parameters of transfer pedestrians are quite different from traditional random traffic flow. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of the transfer traffic characteristics will be very useful to the pedestrian traffic organization and facilities design in transfer stations. Based on two weeks' investigations at transfer stations in Beijing, this paper gives the traffic characteristics of transfer pedestrians on passageways, such as the change of the traffic volume during a whole day, the free walking speed, and especially the relationship between traffic parameters and time.