A psychological approach to understanding microscopic and macroscopic structures during train boarding processes

Current research on the train boarding process focuses predominantly on the physical modelling of pedestrian dynamics and situational characteristics such as platform design. Little psychology is involved in this approach even though individual behavior is a major factor in influencing dwell times. We take a systematic psychological approach to estimate whether parameters like pedestrian speed, area available per pedestrian, and interpersonal distance show variation at the microscopic level (individual variation), macroscopic level (situational variation), or both. Analyzing real-life train (de)boarding events (n = 3728) at a specific location at a Dutch train station, we find that boarders’ speed varies more at the microscopic (individual variation) than the macroscopic level. This behavior could thus result from stable aspects of the situation such as some structural feature of the environment or a social norm. Understanding such variation is helpful in designing behavioral interventions/nudges. If variation is due to individual differences, then an individual-targeted intervention will be most effective. If variation is due to situational differences, then individual-targeted interventions may not be particularly useful, and nudges targeted at crowds or environmental features may be most effective.