Research on Modeling the Reservation Mechanism of Massive Passenger Flow Subway Stations

With the continuous expansion of urban rail transit networks, growing passenger demand has intensified the imbalance between system capacity and travel needs. During peak hours, insufficient capacity often leads to passenger queues outside stations. This study proposes a metro booking mechanism that adjusts passenger arrival times to better align demand with available capacity, thereby reducing entry delays. Based on the distribution of passenger flows, a nonlinear integer programming model was developed to minimize total off-station waiting time. A case study was conducted using real data from Beijing’s metro network. Results demonstrate that the booking demand ratio, types of booking stations, and number of key stations significantly affect optimization performance. The mechanism achieves optimal effectiveness when the booking ratio reaches approximately 75% of OD demand, and performs best when implemented at high-capacity or interchange stations. This approach offers a promising solution for managing peak-hour passenger flow in metro systems.