Path-based crowding information in public transport based on cumulative passenger flow data

Public transport experience is negatively affected by overcrowding and incomplete travel information. This study introduces the concept of personalised, path-based Crowding Information (CI), which accounts for seating probability aggregated along the O-D travel path. We present the framework for generating and evaluating the path-based CI from Automated Passenger Counting (APC) data on passenger loads between stops and seat capacity rotation at stops. Path-based CI effects on a toy-network and the case-study APC data from Rzeszow (Poland) show that up to 25% of all travel instances correspond to standing crowding conditions where path-based CI reveals seating possibility, and in over 40% of such cases - along more than half of the O-D travel route. Overall, path-based CI can be helpful in mitigating the overcrowding experience with moderate accuracy (50-70%). Our findings underscore the potential and applicability of path-based CI to enhance travel experience in congested public transport networks.