On Access Control in Cabin-Based Transport Systems

We analyze a boarding solution for a transport system in which the number of passengers allowed to enter a transport cabin is automatically controlled. Expressions characterizing the stochastic properties of the passenger queue length, waiting time, and cabin capacity are derived using queuing theory for a transport line with deterministic arrivals of cabins and Poisson arrivals of passengers. The expected cabin capacity and stability threshold for each station are derived for a general passenger arrival distribution. The results show that a significant reduction of the waiting time at a given station is only possible at the cost of making the stability of one of the preceding stations worse than that of the given station. Studies with real passenger arrivals are necessary to draw firm conclusions.