The objective of this work was to study the effect of the ratio between passengers boarding and alighting on the passengers’ behaviour at metro stations. A mock-up of a vehicle and the relevant portion of the platform was built to run a series of simulation experiments at University College London’s Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory (PAMELA). Different scenarios were tested based on the next generation London Underground trains. The scenarios were classified according to different load conditions. Four types of behaviour are described. In most cases boarding is first, and passengers compete for space to enter the train. In the case of alighting, first passengers are faster than the rest of alighters due to the space available on the platform as boarding passengers give way to those who are getting off the train. In addition, alighters form lanes of flow depending on the number of passengers waiting to board the train on the platform. With respect to the train, if the density inside the train is higher than 4 passengers per square metre, then the flow at the doors starts to decrease. More experiments are needed to study the relationship between platform density and boarding and alighting time.

The big paradigm for cities nowadays is to study the movement of pedestrians at the interface between metro and bus systems – metro–bus interchanges. When these interchanges are not well designed, walking is inefficient and can be unsafe for pedestrians. This paper analyses, by means of a pedestrian microsimulation model, metro–bus interchange spaces in order to propose planning guidelines for the city of Santiago de Chile. Specific objectives are (1) to identify the variables that provide efficiency and safety in those spaces; (2) to simulate different scenarios using the pedestrian simulation model LEGION; (3) to propose planning and design guidelines for pedestrian spaces at metro–bus interchanges; and (4) to contrast the recommendations in the recently opened terminal station on Line 1 of Metro de Santiago: Los Dominicos Station.

Acknowledging the possible impacts of the location of a vertical handrail on the accessibility of wheelchair passengers, this study explores different dimensions of the vertical handrail and elements of the internal space of a metro carriage and how they can impact the behaviour of passengers. For this purpose, simulation scenarios have been developed with different configurations of the location of the vertical handrail, which includes variables such as the number of passengers boarding and alighting and the type of relationship that exists between them. In this way, participants have been recruited for the simulation in a controlled environment, using a mock-up with characteristics and dimensions representing the space inside a metro carriage. The results show that the current location, that is, in the centre of the carriage, affects the accessibility of wheelchair users. Similarly, it has been observed that placing the handrail on one side of the train has positive effects on the accessibility of these users since the boarding time is considerably reduced. In addition, it has been shown that the relationship between passengers who hold on to the vertical handrail has an impact on the accessibility of wheelchair users. If passengers holding the handrail know each other, they will use less space inside the metro, and therefore, the boarding time is reduced. Finally, a series of recommendations have been proposed for future research, for example, carrying out new simulations with a more significant number of passengers, considering other types of disabilities.

Today some cycle lanes are reaching high levels of flow. Clear examples are the cycle-track Pocuro in Santiago de Chile and the cycle-lane Tavistock Square in London. The problem presented in this research is the lack of measurements for estimating the capacity of cycle lanes at traffic signals. Therefore, it cannot be identified through indicators whether cycle lanes are saturated or not. For this reason there is no record of the capacity they can offer. As a methodology we established four steps. Firstly, we measured the physical and operational variables of cycle lanes, and we investigated about international studies related to their capacities. Then we used the approach of the Road Note 34 (RRL, 1963) to measure the saturation flow and transient periods of cycle lanes, taking as case study Santiago de Chile and London. In addition, we defined different scenarios of experiments. Finally, the results were transformed into design recommendations to provide an adequate level of service for cyclists. The main results of this research shows that the saturation flow grows almost linearly with the width. When cyclists formed in lanes, the saturation flow increased only if a new lane was formed. In the case of the cycle-track Pocuro, for a width of 1.0 m the saturation flow reached 2070 bicycle/h-lane. If the width increased to 2.0 m, the saturation flow reached 4657 bicycle/h-lane. In relation to Tavistock Square, this cycle-lane (width of 1.0 m) reached a saturation flow of 4320 bicycle/h-lane. As a conclusion, this research can be used by traffic engineers to estimate the saturation flow of cycle lanes and delays of cyclists at traffic signals. This in turn can help in designing cycle facilities at transport infrastructures. The validation of our investigation can also help transport planners with the calculation of the capacity, optimum width, comfort, and other operational costs of cycle lanes