Distance in buses and trains: this could make local transport safer

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Where is there still space? The utilization of the subway cars is to be displayed via lights.

In the corona crisis, warning words sounded from the speakers on platforms. "Please wear your mask. Please keep your distance." Although this has been going on for months, some don't stick to the rules. Federal states such as North Rhine-Westphalia want to introduce fines of up to 150 euros for mask refusers.

Masks are also gaining in importance because after the lockdown it gets full again in the S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains in our cities. Keeping your distance is easier said than done. Mainly because it is mostly chaotic at the stations: people hurry back and forth through the aisles and across the platforms into the wagons at random. While in some cars it is already tight, in others it is airy and empty.

Research on passenger control systems in local public transport, some of which were already running before the pandemic, is therefore receiving new momentum. More than ever, operating companies would know exactly how their passengers move in order to adapt the offer accordingly. The main focus is now on the subject of real-time measurement. A research group in Berlin and Deutsche Bahn in Stuttgart are currently working on technical solutions that should offer an additional benefit in the corona crisis: creating more distance between passengers.

Project 1: Cameras that count passengers

The DB Regio has teamed up with the start-up Brighter AI in Stuttgart to count passengers using the video cameras in the S-Bahn trains. A spokesman for the Stuttgart S-Bahn explains that the platform can show how busy the trains are in individual wagons. This also has advantages for the handling of trains: "If passengers are better distributed due to the space available in the train and on the platforms, stopping times for getting on and off can be shortened," said the spokesman.

For the pilot project, software is used to replace faces with artificially created replicas. The personal identity is protected, no video data leaves the devices and a personal reference should be excluded. No regulation is violated. A date for the start of test operation with a test vehicle is currently not foreseeable.

Project 2: fireflies that lead into empty wagons

The "Firefly" project follows a similar approach, which was developed as a semester project between interaction design students at the Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin and computer science students at the FU Berlin. "At a time when Corona was still a beer," said Johannes Müller, one of the participating students. The team developed a networked lighting system that shows the car capacity and free spaces before entering the platform, so that those waiting can distribute themselves accordingly. Small lights, the fireflies, mark the optimal entry points before the train arrives. The system determines how much space is left in the individual train parts.

"In winter, more people will want to use public transport again," explains Müller. As early as autumn, fewer people will be cycling. "It will be all the more important at this time to distribute passengers as evenly and self-motivated as possible in order to maintain the largest possible 'Personal Health Space' in the trams." Together with the Berlin experimental network CityLAB, he is currently looking for partners to build a prototype and test it while traffic is running.

Cell phone data could also be used

The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) is also thinking about how passengers can be steered better. The considerations range from automatic passenger counting systems (which are, however, rather imprecise) to weight measurements and conclusions about the number of people in the wagon to the use of cell phone data, which, however, would be sensitive in terms of data protection law. 

"With this request, Corona is not in the foreground," said a spokeswoman for the BVG. The passenger data would provide information about route utilization and transfer behavior. With this knowledge, operations can then be optimized.

However, it seems uncertain whether more distance than virus protection can ultimately be enforced. "When it comes to Corona," the spokeswoman continued, "you have to consider that in normal times we transport 1.5 million people every day." If the number of passengers increases again to the usual level and at the same time a distance has to be maintained between passengers, "then we would have to double our offer at the push of a button".

Distance rules in public transport: wasted effort?

Mobility researcher Andreas Knie also sees the efforts in local public transport as a "forgiven effort": "Public transport and urban space are characterized by density," says the scientist. It will hardly be possible to force a lot of distance. In his opinion, passenger numbers will still recover: "People will get used to getting close again." Mouth and nose protection can also help "as a social exercise".

Knie, who works at the Science Center Berlin for Social Research (WZB), and his team are conducting a survey to review people's mobility behavior during the corona pandemic. An interesting finding: the more people use public transport again, the safer the individual users feel. This can be explained by a simple effect: the feeling of normality.

Indeed, more space in local public transport can be created according to a very conservative principle: more cars, more routes and more frequent services. Combined with constant cleaning of the systems. All things that are demanded by those who see public transport as a beacon of hope for the traffic turnaround even without the corona pandemic.