Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences, Munich, Germany.
Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
PLoS One. 2023 Apr 20;18(4):e0284540. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284540. eCollection 2023.
Crowd congestion is a common issue at train stations around major sports events, and puts passengers at risk and lowers service quality. Guiding arriving fans along less traveled routes may alleviate congestion. Smartphone apps provide a medium to deliver route suggestions but the messages they provide are pivotal to adherence. We explore how message design affects pedestrians' willingness to follow route instructions. We present an online survey conducted with two groups: football fans, and students and faculty associates. We vary the presence of top down views of the route choices at train station Münchner Freiheit in Munich, real-time information on congestion, and appeals to team spirit. We compute a distribution of route choices that suggests that congestion may be reduced with the right combination of message components for each target group. We then use a computer simulation to investigate the congestion situation. Our results suggest that lowest congestion is achieved when people base their decisions on real-time information. The social identity approach is highlighted in our study as having a possible influence on message design. Moreover, it indicates that the implementation of such apps in real-life applications can improve safety. Our methodology can be applied to other scenarios to test the suitability of apps and message designs.
人群拥堵是大型体育赛事期间火车站的常见问题，会使乘客面临风险并降低服务质量。引导到站的球迷选择不太拥挤的路线可能会缓解拥堵。智能手机应用程序提供了传递路线建议的媒介，但他们提供的信息对于遵守路线至关重要。我们探讨了信息设计如何影响行人遵循路线指示的意愿。我们展示了一项针对两组人群进行的在线调查：足球迷和学生及教职员工。我们在慕尼黑的慕尼黑自由火车站的路线选择中分别展示了自上而下的视图、实时拥堵信息以及对团队精神的呼吁。我们计算了路线选择的分布情况，表明对于每个目标群体，通过正确组合消息组件可以减少拥堵。然后，我们使用计算机模拟来研究拥堵情况。我们的结果表明，当人们根据实时信息做出决策时，拥堵程度最低。我们的研究强调了社会认同方法对信息设计的可能影响。此外，这表明在实际应用中实施此类应用程序可以提高安全性。我们的方法可以应用于其他场景，以测试应用程序和信息设计的适用性。
