Passengers’ behavioral intentions towards congestion: Observational study of the entry restrictions at traffic bottleneck

Stairs and escalators are usually considered as the commonest bottleneck positions in metro platform. Congestion has taken place constantly due to passengers’ selection behaviors between stairs and escalator, which often cause delays and affect the efficiency of transfer stations. Therefore, this study explores this relationship through the effect of clusters in front of escalator on choice behaviors, by conducting a field observation with varying length of entry restrictions during peak hours. The empirical time data of each passenger entering the stairway or escalator were extracted from the videotapes semi-manually. It was found that proper terrain restraints (certain lengths of fence) could optimize the flow rate pattern of stairway and escalator systems and raise the utilization of stairway, because it reduced conflicts and promoted an orderly movement of the pedestrians in front of escalator according to the analysis of the density of pedestrian flow calculated in waiting area. Besides, the percentage of choosing stairs increased with the density, which was in good agreement with the binary logistic model when the fence was 2 m or 2.5 m long. This study implicates that improvement in service quality of pedestrian facilities need to integrate with entry restrictions on congested bottleneck for effective behavior change. The findings of this study would be helpful for concerned authorities in considering the appropriate attributes of pedestrian facilities for improvement, and other related policy measures to make significant promotion of safe, quick and efficient transport infrastructures.