Enhancing periodic mobility planning: ARIMA-driven prognostications for subway passenger volume dynamics

Abstract. This study aims to accurately predict urban subway passenger flow using the Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Seasonal Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model, with the intention of providing a scientific basis for subway operation management. By meticulously sorting and analyzing the existing traffic data of a large city's subway system, this research constructs a model that comprehensively considering the seasonal, trend, and stochastic characteristics of time series data. During the model construction process, data preprocessing is carried out, including stationarity tests, differencing, model order determination, and parameter estimation, ultimately identifying an ARIMA and SARIMA model with good fitting results, effectively identifying and forecasting characteristics such as numerical fluctuations. Additionally, this study conducts a special analysis of the prediction effects at diverse time scales, verifying the applicability and superiority of the ARIMA and SARIMA model in subway passenger flow prediction. This research not only provides a powerful tool for passenger flow prediction for subway operation management departments, aiding in the reasonable allocation of capacity and optimization of operation strategies, but also holds significant reference and application value for the passenger flow prediction and management of other urban public transportation systems.