Passenger flow
As passenger flow is called a crossing procedures in public transport , each using separate doors at the entry and exiting. This concept is used in trams (rare today), trolleybuses and especially city buses . Due to the high number of fare dodgers, some transport companies are now returning to this system from a system of free entry at all vehicle doors, as is customary with express trains. In general, the term passenger flow also describes the distribution of passengers within the vehicle. The Viennese tram or the Viennese electric light rail used to be referred to as flowing traffic as an alternative .
Passenger flow for tariff reasons
Heyday
Traditionally, passengers used to be handled by conductors at their respective seated or standing area. Because they had to switch from one end of the car to the other after each stop , they were also called shuttle conductors . Over the years, however, the vehicles became increasingly longer - the staff often no longer managed to serve all passengers between two stations - which led to creeping transport . In particular, the advent of large-capacity trams , articulated trams and articulated buses caused problems for employees in this regard. In addition, the conductors' operation was uneconomical, especially for longer units. For example, three conductors had to be assigned to a three-car train because they could not switch from one car to the other while the train was in motion.
As a result, the passenger flow method was developed as early as the early 20th century. Canada was a pioneer here , where the Montreal tram operator invented the flow of passengers in 1905. The principle finally experienced its breakthrough with the large-capacity tram cars with bogies that were manufactured in the United States early on . These include in particular the Peter Witt cars built from 1914 and the PCC cars built from 1936 .
A fixed conductor's seat was installed between the rear entrance and the seating area, facing the direction of travel . From then on, boarding passengers were only allowed to enter the car at this clearly defined entrance door. Following this, they passed the sitting with his back to the window seat Schaffner , to apply for the one ticket to buy a multi-trip ticket devalue or to have their time card be presented. In the English-speaking world, this principle was called pay-as-you-enter (PAYE), which means paying when you enter . In some cases, due to time constraints, two lanes were used, i.e. only those paying in cash had to pass the conductor directly. The sight card holders, however, were allowed to overtake the cash payers in the second row and show their tickets to the conductors past the cash payers.
At the front door or doors only getting out was allowed. The prerequisite for this was a large stern platform, which offered storage space for as many people who had not yet been cleared. In Hamburg they were therefore as Samba car called because the area "to the terms of its size Samba would be suitable -Tanzen". Typically the entrance was wider than the exit or exit. Other related development steps presented from 1940 built Swiss standard cars and the 1951 presented Duewag open seating car . Another precondition for effective passenger flow is a simple Bartarif , for example, a flat rate regardless of the actual path respectively smooth fares with little need for change. It is also advantageous to have as high a proportion of sight card holders as possible, so that the handling time per passenger is kept to a minimum and there are no congestion or departure delays at busy stops or at short distances from stations.
The conductors' seat was installed less often by the front door. In this case, the driver could take over the sale and control of the tickets during the off- peak times, and the cars then ran in so-called one-man operation. Another variant was the entrance in the middle, here the conductor sometimes handled two passengers at the same time, these then moved either to the left or to the right into the car. In some cases, the passage between the two halves of the car was prevented by a bar. In other cases it was principally necessary to get on at the back of the conductor, but card holders were also allowed to get on the front of the driver, who also checked them. Some of the exits were given additional saloon doors or barriers on the inside , which could only be rotated outwards and should therefore make it more difficult to get on illegally bypassing the conductor. In some plants was further characterized by a red line number pointed to the novel method, for example, in tram Hamburg , wherein tram Mannheim / Ludwigshafen and at the tram Munich .
A less common alternative to the pay-as-you-enter process is only paying when you exit.
Vienna tram : large sidecar with three-lane rear door and the information "Entry" or "No entry"
In contrast, the door provided for the exit was often only one lane at the front.
Romanian type Timiș 2 with double central entry, intended for conductors handling to the left and right
Peter Witt car of the Toronto tram : the seat conductor has handled all the passengers and is waiting for the next stop.
Bremen: The yellow “saloon doors” on the exits were supposed to make it difficult to board illegally by the conductor
Berlin bus with two-lane clearance from the driver - sight cards on the left, cash payers on the right
Note LEAVE BY CENTER DOORS in a passenger flow car
Vienna: Special note for season ticket holders who were allowed to get into the front of the driver despite having a seat conductor in the rear
Separation of passenger flows in a two-axle vehicle from Vienna
Notice of ticket sales by the driver at the second door of a Salzburg trolleybus
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Decline by one-man operation
Due to technical progress and the associated increasing use of ticket machines , payment boxes (in the GDR ) and multi-trip tickets in combination with validators , conductors became dispensable in many places in the 1960s and 1970s due to a shortage of staff and cost reasons. As a result, the passenger flow principle was largely abandoned. The cars were converted for handling by the driver (one-man car), and the conductor's area could be used for passengers. The previous exit doors also received control buttons on the outside; analogously, the previous entry door also received control buttons for exiting passengers on the inside. Ticket checks were hardly or no longer carried out, and there was no flow of passengers because, as with U- and S-Bahn vehicles, you could get on and off at all doors. This enabled accelerated travel times, which played an increasing role in view of the increasing competition from individual motorized transport .
Because the conductor also sent the driver the departure signal from the rear of the vehicle (or sidecar ) in addition to selling tickets , new safety devices had to be created. Due to a departure block, the journey could only continue with the doors securely closed. The prerequisite for this was automatic doors with sensors in the form of step plates or light barriers . In double-decker buses , the passenger flow was later extended to the upper deck by installing two stairs. In the GDR, doorbell signals and light signal transmitters were introduced on the doors to indicate readiness for departure or warnings before departure or - if available - the door closing process initiated by the driver.
However, the passenger flow principle has remained in overland traffic and urban traffic in smaller cities to the present day, especially in the evening hours with little traffic. In regional bus transport , the driver is usually still responsible for ticket sales and visual inspection today. Entry is only permitted at the front door. This principle also applied to intercity bus routes in the GDR.
This Berlin bus is explicitly marked as a one-man car
Automatic ticket control using a turnstile and reader in a Moscow tram
In Eberswalde , red and white one-way street signs symbolize which doors are not allowed to enter
Todays situation
The passenger flow principle is increasingly being reintroduced in city bus companies, so that the driver has to get on at the front. In addition to ticket sales, the latter also visually inspects the tickets of transfer passengers and season ticket holders. In this case, the rear doors may only be used by passengers with prams, bulky luggage, bicycles or by wheelchair users to get in. In order to create sufficient space for the flow of passengers, only a few seats are available in the front area of the vehicle. Particularly with articulated buses on heavily frequented lines, problems arise due to the long journey within the vehicle, especially when used by passengers with prams or bulky luggage. Getting out at the front door is only permitted in exceptional cases. To speed things up, validators for multi-trip tickets are also installed in the door area of the middle doors. The passengers then have to show their unvalidated tickets when boarding.
Passenger flow in order to shorten passenger switching times
Regardless of the ticket sales or ticket inspection by the staff, the flow of passengers ideally ensures shorter passenger change times at the stops, because passengers getting on and off do not hinder each other.
Entry (entrata) front and back, exit (uscita) at the double door in the middle
Entry at the front, exit in the middle and back
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Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Horn: Wiener Stadtbahn. 90 years of light rail, 10 years of underground. Bohmann-Verlag, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-7002-0678-X , p. 140.
- ↑ Montreal Streetcars on barrybrake.ca
- ↑ General history of the open- plan carriages ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Hans J. Knupfer: Yellow Classic - The GT4, Stuttgart's tram car for five decades . Stuttgart 2006/2007, ISBN 978-3-9811082-0-0 , page 44
