Study on the Impact of Health Condition Registration and Temperature Check on Inbound Passenger Flow and Optimisation Measures in a Metro Station during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Guangzhou Metro Authority implemented health condition registration and temperature checks to curb the spread of the virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is important to investigate how these measures may have impacted the get-through efficiency and whether they caused the increased crowding at entrances and the station hall. To address these questions, simulation models based on the T Station were developed using AnyLogic. The model compared the get-through efficiencies with and without the anti-epidemic measures, while also analysing the risk of crowding at entrances and within the station hall after their implementation. Results revealed an increase in the number of passengers unsuccessfully passing through the check-in gate machines from 15% to 53% within 5 minutes, and 10% to 45% within 10 minutes when the anti-epidemic measures were in place. It was also observed that some entrances experienced significant crowding. Three measures were simulated to find effective ways to increase the get-through efficiency and mitigate the crowding – increasing the distance between security and health checks, utilising automatic infrared thermometers, and arranging volunteers or staff to assist with the registration process. The results demonstrated that using automatic infrared thermometers instead of handheld forehead thermometers proved to be effective in improving passenger efficiency and alleviating crowding at entrances and within the station hall.