How to Avoid Crowds in Mass Transit
Understand how locations on the platform correspond to cars of the train Some of the more modern mass transit systems, particularly those in East Asia (Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, and other parts of China) have platform screen doors that align with...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand how locations on the platform correspond to cars of the train Some of the more modern mass transit systems
Older mass transit systems have markers indicating where the train doors will be placed when the train stops.
The platform screen doors and/or markers can give you an idea of how the train will stop.
Some mass transit system run trains of variable length.
The station is designed to accommodate the maximum train length.
How shorter trains stop can depend on the transit system.
For instance, for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, trains stop approximately in the middle, with a subtlety: while trains with an even number of cars stop exactly in the middle, trains with an odd number of cars leave an extra car's worth of empty space in the front.
Some transit systems front-align, i.e., the front car always stops at a particular point regardless of train length.
Others rear-align, i.e., the rear car always stops at a particular point regardless of train length.
Mass transit systems with variable train length generally display explicit information about the length of the arriving train in the electronic displays.
Note that this information may not be available as part of the regular schedule because the length of trains may be a function of dynamic factors such as availability of cars and expected passenger load.
Some stations have information on how trains of different lengths will stop.
The information may be displayed dynamically (i.e., for the next train) or as static signage describing how various train lengths will be treated. -
Step 2: particularly those in East Asia (Seoul
Decide what is the car most likely to have seating space at the time that you board it if your only goal is to find space to sit.
Subsequent crowding of the car is not too relevant.
If space to sit is out of the question anyways, and your goal is to find a car that will have the least level of crowding throughout the journey, it is also important to consider the load at future stations.
In general, the distribution of the load of boarding passengers at each station depends on the station layout.
Cars that are closer to the entrance points to the station platform tend to be more crowded, since many people, including those who arrive "just in time" to take the train and those who don't try to reposition within the station, tend to take that car.
Therefore, at the station where you are boarding, what matters is the design of all the stations before you.A typical mass transit system will have reasonably similar designs for most of its stations, so you may be able to use publicly available heuristics on crowdedness for your mass transit system.
For instance, for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the middle cars tend to be the most crowded and the front and rear cars least crowded.The same is true for Japan's train system.For the F and L trains on the New York City's Subway system, the front cars of the 4-car trains are the most crowded, and the rear cars are the least crowded, whereas 6-car trains are more crowded in the middle.Be cognizant of the length of the train when doing these calculations.
If you expect the train to be longer than it is, you may end up waiting at a part of the platform where the train won't stop. , For BART, when transferring from shorter trains to longer trains across an island platform, it is particularly important to be at the front or rear car of the shorter train, otherwise you will be too far from the front or rear car of the longer train.
However, when transferring from a longer train to a shorter train, it is more helpful to be at the car directly corresponding to the front or rear car of the shorter train being transferred to.
Read the displayed information that is shown on some subway systems (such as Seoul's subway system), regarding what part of the station to board so as to make one's transfer most efficient.If the crowdedness varies significantly for cars close to the entrance to the platform and cars far away, it may be better for you to forgo boarding a train if you arrive just in time at the platform, and instead board the next train for which you'll have time to reach the correct part of the platform.
However, if you are able to enter in a car that has no seating space but has only a moderate number of people standing, you may be able to migrate within the train to a more suitable car (at the risk of disturbing some fellow passengers during your journey).
Not all trains allow people to move between cars under ordinary circumstances. , Mass transit systems in many parts of Asia (Japan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia), Mexico, Brazil, and some other countries have some train cars reserved for women.In some countries (such as Japan) these women-only rules apply only during rush hour.
Their purpose is to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment of females on mass transit.
If you are a male passenger, make sure not to stand at the parts of the platform where the women-only cars stop.
Females are generally allowed to board other train cars as well.
If you are female, familiarize yourself with your mass transit system's conventions regarding boarding general cars.
In some mass transit systems, such as Mumbai's suburban railway system, the women-only passenger cars can be more crowded on some routes during rush hour (since they account for only 25% of train cars and women can account for a larger fraction of travelers along some routes).
Thus, a number of women avail of the general train cars.There may be restrictions on times you can board if you are boarding with a bicycle, or the level of crowdedness of the train when you can board.
For instance, BART does not allow bikes in the first car, and does not allow bikes in the first three cars during rush hour.Some transit systems have special train cars with restricted access and higher ticket prices.
An example is Mumbai's suburban railway system, that has "first class" coaches, where tickets cost 8 times the general ticket cost (however, with monthly passes the cost ratio is only 4).
Part of the purpose of the high cost is to make the tickets sufficiently unaffordable that the "first class" cars do not get too crowded, so if you are averse to crowding this option might be worth availing. -
Step 3: Hong Kong
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Step 4: Beijing
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Step 5: and other parts of China) have platform screen doors that align with the doors of the arriving train and open in sync with the arriving train.
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Step 6: Determine the least crowded car and least crowded entrance within the car
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Step 7: for travel without transfers.
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Step 8: Consider how close your car will be to the train you will be transferring to
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Step 9: for travel with transfers.
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Step 10: Become familiar with any special rules that your transit system has for who can board what cars of a train.
Detailed Guide
Older mass transit systems have markers indicating where the train doors will be placed when the train stops.
The platform screen doors and/or markers can give you an idea of how the train will stop.
Some mass transit system run trains of variable length.
The station is designed to accommodate the maximum train length.
How shorter trains stop can depend on the transit system.
For instance, for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, trains stop approximately in the middle, with a subtlety: while trains with an even number of cars stop exactly in the middle, trains with an odd number of cars leave an extra car's worth of empty space in the front.
Some transit systems front-align, i.e., the front car always stops at a particular point regardless of train length.
Others rear-align, i.e., the rear car always stops at a particular point regardless of train length.
Mass transit systems with variable train length generally display explicit information about the length of the arriving train in the electronic displays.
Note that this information may not be available as part of the regular schedule because the length of trains may be a function of dynamic factors such as availability of cars and expected passenger load.
Some stations have information on how trains of different lengths will stop.
The information may be displayed dynamically (i.e., for the next train) or as static signage describing how various train lengths will be treated.
Decide what is the car most likely to have seating space at the time that you board it if your only goal is to find space to sit.
Subsequent crowding of the car is not too relevant.
If space to sit is out of the question anyways, and your goal is to find a car that will have the least level of crowding throughout the journey, it is also important to consider the load at future stations.
In general, the distribution of the load of boarding passengers at each station depends on the station layout.
Cars that are closer to the entrance points to the station platform tend to be more crowded, since many people, including those who arrive "just in time" to take the train and those who don't try to reposition within the station, tend to take that car.
Therefore, at the station where you are boarding, what matters is the design of all the stations before you.A typical mass transit system will have reasonably similar designs for most of its stations, so you may be able to use publicly available heuristics on crowdedness for your mass transit system.
For instance, for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the middle cars tend to be the most crowded and the front and rear cars least crowded.The same is true for Japan's train system.For the F and L trains on the New York City's Subway system, the front cars of the 4-car trains are the most crowded, and the rear cars are the least crowded, whereas 6-car trains are more crowded in the middle.Be cognizant of the length of the train when doing these calculations.
If you expect the train to be longer than it is, you may end up waiting at a part of the platform where the train won't stop. , For BART, when transferring from shorter trains to longer trains across an island platform, it is particularly important to be at the front or rear car of the shorter train, otherwise you will be too far from the front or rear car of the longer train.
However, when transferring from a longer train to a shorter train, it is more helpful to be at the car directly corresponding to the front or rear car of the shorter train being transferred to.
Read the displayed information that is shown on some subway systems (such as Seoul's subway system), regarding what part of the station to board so as to make one's transfer most efficient.If the crowdedness varies significantly for cars close to the entrance to the platform and cars far away, it may be better for you to forgo boarding a train if you arrive just in time at the platform, and instead board the next train for which you'll have time to reach the correct part of the platform.
However, if you are able to enter in a car that has no seating space but has only a moderate number of people standing, you may be able to migrate within the train to a more suitable car (at the risk of disturbing some fellow passengers during your journey).
Not all trains allow people to move between cars under ordinary circumstances. , Mass transit systems in many parts of Asia (Japan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia), Mexico, Brazil, and some other countries have some train cars reserved for women.In some countries (such as Japan) these women-only rules apply only during rush hour.
Their purpose is to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment of females on mass transit.
If you are a male passenger, make sure not to stand at the parts of the platform where the women-only cars stop.
Females are generally allowed to board other train cars as well.
If you are female, familiarize yourself with your mass transit system's conventions regarding boarding general cars.
In some mass transit systems, such as Mumbai's suburban railway system, the women-only passenger cars can be more crowded on some routes during rush hour (since they account for only 25% of train cars and women can account for a larger fraction of travelers along some routes).
Thus, a number of women avail of the general train cars.There may be restrictions on times you can board if you are boarding with a bicycle, or the level of crowdedness of the train when you can board.
For instance, BART does not allow bikes in the first car, and does not allow bikes in the first three cars during rush hour.Some transit systems have special train cars with restricted access and higher ticket prices.
An example is Mumbai's suburban railway system, that has "first class" coaches, where tickets cost 8 times the general ticket cost (however, with monthly passes the cost ratio is only 4).
Part of the purpose of the high cost is to make the tickets sufficiently unaffordable that the "first class" cars do not get too crowded, so if you are averse to crowding this option might be worth availing.
About the Author
Linda Barnes
Creates helpful guides on pet care to inspire and educate readers.
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