scholarly journals Adapting the reverse pyramid airplane boarding method for social distancing in times of COVID-19

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0242131 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. John Milne ◽  
Liviu-Adrian Cotfas ◽  
Camelia Delcea ◽  
Liliana Crăciun ◽  
Anca-Gabriela Molănescu
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Infection Risk ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Airport Terminal ◽  
Lower Health ◽  
Reduce Health Risk

Social distancing resulting from the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) has disrupted the airplane boarding process. Social distancing norms reduce airplane capacity by keeping the middle seats unoccupied, while an imposed aisle social distance between boarding passengers slows the boarding. Recent literature suggests the Reverse Pyramid boarding method is a promising way to reduce health risk and keep boarding times low when 10 apron buses (essentially 10 boarding groups) are used to transport passengers from the airport terminal to a two-door airplane. We adapt the Reverse Pyramid method for social distancing when an airplane is boarded using a jet bridge that connects the terminal the airplane’s front door. We vary the number of boarding groups from two to six and use stochastic simulation and agent-based modelling to show the resulting impact on four performance evaluation metrics. Increasing the number of boarding groups from two to six reduces boarding time only up to four groups but continues to reduce infection risk up to six groups. If the passengers carry fewer luggage aboard the airplane, health risks (as well as boarding times) decrease. One adaptation of the Reverse Pyramid (RP) method (RP-Spread) provides slightly faster boarding times than the other (RP-Steep), when luggage volumes are high, while RP-Steep results in less risk to window seat passengers from later-boarding passengers walking by their row. Increasing the minimum aisle social distance from 1 m to 2 m increases boarding times but results in lower health risks to passengers walking down the aisle and to the previously seated passengers they pass.

scholarly journals Determining the Number of Passengers for Each of Three Reverse Pyramid Boarding Groups with COVID-19 Flying Restrictions

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2038
Author(s):  
Camelia Delcea ◽  
R. John Milne ◽  
Liviu-Adrian Cotfas
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Relative Preference ◽  
Search Optimization ◽  
Airport Terminal ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The onset of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 has changed many aspects of people’s economic and social activities. For many airlines, social distancing has reduced airplane capacity by one third as a result of keeping the middle seats empty. Additionally, social distancing between passengers traversing the aisle slows the boarding process. Recent literature has suggested that the reverse pyramid boarding method provides favorable values for boarding time and passenger health metrics when compared to other boarding methods with social distancing. Assuming reverse pyramid boarding with the middle seats unoccupied, we determined the number of passengers to include in each of three boarding groups. We assumed that passengers use a jet-bridge that connects the airport terminal to the airplane’s front door. We used agent-based modeling and a stochastic simulation to evaluate solutions. A full grid search found an initial good solution, and then local search optimization determined the best solution based upon the airline’s relative preference for minimizing average boarding time and minimizing risks to previously seated passengers from later-boarding, potentially contagious passengers breathing near them. The resulting solution contained the number of passengers to place into each of the three boarding groups. If an airline is most concerned about the health risk to seated passengers from later boarding passengers walking near them, the best three-group reverse pyramid method adapted for social distancing will first board passengers with window seats in the rear half of the airplane, then will board passengers with window seats in the front half of the airplane and those with aisle seats in the rear half of the airplane, and finally will board the passengers with aisle seats in the front half of the airplane. The resulting solution takes about 2% longer to board than the three-group solution that minimizes boarding time while providing a 25% decrease in health risk to aisle seat passengers from later boarding passengers.

scholarly journals Evaluating Classical Airplane Boarding Methods Considering COVID-19 Flying Restrictions

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liviu-Adrian Cotfas ◽  
Camelia Delcea ◽  
R. John Milne ◽  
Mostafa Salari
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Zone Method ◽  
Economic Productivity ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Impact

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has imposed the need for a series of social distancing restrictions worldwide to mitigate the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic. This applies to many domains, including airplane boarding and seat assignments. As airlines are considering their passengers’ safety during the pandemic, boarding methods should be evaluated both in terms of social distancing norms and the resulting efficiency for the airlines. The present paper analyzes the impact of a series of restrictions that have been imposed or mooted worldwide on the boarding methods used by the airlines, featuring the use of jet-bridges and one-door boarding. To compare the efficacy of classical airplane boarding methods with respect to new social distancing norms, five metrics were used to evaluate their performance. One metric is the time to complete the boarding of the airplane. The other four metrics concern passenger health and reflect the potential exposure to the virus from other passengers through the air and surfaces (e.g., headrests and luggage) touched by passengers. We use the simulation platform in NetLogo to test six common boarding methods under various conditions. The back-to-front by row boarding method results in the longest time to complete boarding but has the advantage of providing the lowest health risk for two metrics. Those two metrics are based on passengers potentially infecting those passengers previously seated in the rows they traverse. Interestingly, those two risks are reduced for most boarding methods when the social distance between adjacent passengers advancing down the aisle is increased, thus indicating an unanticipated benefit stemming from this form of social distancing. The modified reverse pyramid by half zone method provides the shortest time to the completing boarding of the airplane and—along with the WilMA boarding method—provides the lowest health risk stemming from potential infection resulting from seat interferences. Airlines have the difficult task of making tradeoffs between economic productivity and the resulting impact on various health risks.

Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation of Airport Terminal Operations Under COVID-19-Related Restrictions

2021 ◽  
pp. 214-228
Author(s):  
Gregory Sanders ◽  
S. Sahand Mohammadi Ziabari ◽  
Adin Mekić ◽  
Alexei Sharpanskykh
Keyword(s):  
Modelling And Simulation ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Airport Terminal ◽  
Terminal Operations

scholarly journals Assessing the efficacy of interventions to control indoor SARS-Cov-2 transmission: an agent-based modeling approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor S. Farthing ◽  
Cristina Lanzas
Keyword(s):  
Infection Risk ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Transmission Risk ◽  
Respiratory Pathogen ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Individual Level

AbstractIntervention strategies for minimizing indoor SARS-CoV-2 transmission are often based on anecdotal evidence because there is little evidence-based research to support them. We developed a spatially-explicit agent-based model for simulating indoor respiratory pathogen transmission, and used it to compare effects of four interventions on reducing individual-level SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk by simulating a well-known case study. We found that imposing movement restrictions and efficacious mask usage appear to have the greatest effects on reducing infection risk, but multiple concurrent interventions are required to minimize the proportion of susceptible individuals infected. Social distancing had little effect on reducing transmission if individuals move during the gathering. Furthermore, our results suggest that there is potential for ventilation airflow to expose susceptible people to aerosolized pathogens even if they are relatively far from infectious individuals. Maximizing rates of aerosol removal is the key to successful transmission-risk reduction when using ventilation systems as intervention tools.Article Summary LineImposing mask usage requirements, group size restrictions, duration limits, and social distancing policies can have additive, and in some cases multiplicative protective effects on SARS-CoV-2 infection risk during indoor events.

scholarly journals A review on biological carbon sequestration: A sustainable solution for a cleaner air environment, less pollution and lower health risks

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 101282
Author(s):  
R. Gayathri ◽  
Shahid Mahboob ◽  
Marimuthu Govindarajan ◽  
Khalid A. Al-Ghanim ◽  
Zubair Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Lower Health

scholarly journals Agent-based Modelling and Simulation for Circular Business Model Experimentation

2021 ◽  
pp. 200055
Author(s):  
Kasper P.H. Lange ◽  
Gijsbert Korevaar ◽  
Inge F. Oskam ◽  
Igor Nikolic ◽  
Paulien M. Herder
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Modelling And Simulation ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling

scholarly journals Gossip about Coronavirus: Infection status and norm adherence shape social responses

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 658-679
Author(s):  
Terence D. Dores Cruz ◽  
Romy van der Lee ◽  
Bianca Beersma
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Infection Risk ◽  
Infection Status ◽  
Social Responses ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Important Pathway ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Coronavirus Infection

To stop the spread of the Coronavirus, people must avoid infection risk. Given widespread skepticism regarding information concerning the Coronavirus received from authorities, one potentially important pathway to estimate the infectiousness of one’s group members could be through gossip (i.e., information about an absent target). Infection risk is reflected by both infection status and adherence to social distancing norms. In hypothetical scenarios ( N = 837), participants received gossip that we manipulated to describe a group member’s infection status and/or norm adherence. Results showed people tended to believe gossip and that gossip influenced behavioral intentions to avoid and punish targets of gossip as well as the perception of targets. We conclude that gossip, while potentially unreliable, could affect how people treat group members. We discuss how gossip could alleviate the Coronavirus crisis by contributing to slowing the Coronavirus’s spread, as well as exacerbate it through increased social exclusion based on unverified information.

scholarly journals Skin Stem Cell Hypotheses and Long Term Clone Survival – Explored Using Agent-based Modelling

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Li ◽  
A. K. Upadhyay ◽  
A. J. Bullock ◽  
T. Dicolandrea ◽  
J. Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling
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