Guarded by Gamora: How Access Control Balances Out Waiting Times in Transport Systems
For operators of transport systems like ski lifts, this algorithm offers a way to reduce perceived unfairness by balancing waiting times, though it is an incremental improvement over existing access control methods.
The paper proposes an access control algorithm for transport systems that dynamically limits boarding to balance average waiting times across stations. Simulation on a ski lift with empirical data shows it effectively balances waiting times using estimated passenger arrival and deboarding rates.
A transport system with passengers traveling between stations in periodically arriving cabins is considered. We propose and evaluate an access control algorithm that dynamically limits the number of passengers who are allowed to board the current cabin. Simulation of a ski lift using empirical passenger data suggests that such access control can balance out the average waiting times at different stations. The algorithm works well with estimated values of the passengers' arrival and de-boarding rates.