A Passenger Flow Control Method for Subway Network Based on Network Controllability

The volume of passenger flow in urban rail transit network operation continues to increase. Effective measures of passenger flow control can greatly alleviate the pressure of transportation and ensure the safe operation of urban rail transit systems. The controllability of an urban rail transit passenger flow network determines the equilibrium state of passenger flow density in time and space. First, a passenger flow network model of urban rail transit and an evaluation index of the alternative set of flow control stations are proposed. Then, the controllable determination model of the urban rail transit passenger flow network is formed by converting the passenger flow distribution into a system state equation based on system control theory. The optimization method of passenger flow control stations is established via driver node matching to realize the optimized control of network stations. Finally, a real-world case study of the Beijing subway network is presented to demonstrate that the passenger flow network is controllable when driver nodes compose 25.3% of the entire network. The optimization of the flow control station, set during the morning peak, proves the efficiency and validity of the proposed model and algorithm