Background
The regional suburban railways (S-Bahnen) are already confronted with a high capacity utilisation. However, every second counts in the course of operations. Passenger changing times have been identified as one possible adjustment. (Too) long passenger changing times have a decisive influence on the operating process.
Aims
Therefore, the aim of the project is to identify suitable methods for the effective guidance of passengers at the train station using behavioural psychological and technical approaches. This way, boarding and alighting times are to be reduced. The IAD is responsible for the analysis of the passengers' current behaviour at the platform and the underlying motivations.
Method
In the course of the project, observations, questionnaire surveys and interviews were conducted. In total, more than 300 observations, 400 questionnaires and 30 interviews were carried out with passengers of the S-Bahn Frankfurt. For all methods, separate evaluation templates and guidelines were created and pre-tested.
Results
The project provides insights into the diverse behavioural patterns and individual motivations of various groups of passengers on the Frankfurt am Main S-Bahn. Based on the results, it is possible to derive individual design approaches and to describe existing behavioural patterns. Furthermore, future design solutions were evaluated in order to improve the assessment of their acceptance by the users.
