ESCaPe-Plan

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Note: This is an automated translation (using DeepL) of the original German article.

Developing simulation-based strategies for COVID-19-associated problems - A MasterPLAN

A project funded under the 16th call of the program Mobility of the Future (“Mobilität der Zukunft”) by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology.
Contribution of Research, Technology and Innovation to address Covid-19 related challenges for the railroad system.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, public transportation and the “rail system” were hit hard. Especially after the end of the first lockdown, the decline due to loss of confidence could not be made up. Loss of revenue and planning uncertainty are the result. Efficient measures are needed to become more resilient beyond this pandemic. However, the evaluation of such measures is usually too time-consuming and/or cost-intensive.

The goal of ESCaPe-PLAN is to develop an innovative crisis management process for rail transport and rail infrastructure companies. We aim to provide companies with the following:

  1. a compact, efficient resilience model for crises
  2. a communication strategy taking into account experts and decision makers to generate ideas for internal and external measures
  3. the possibilities of simulation-based decision support for the selection of measures, taking into account epidemiological, traffic infrastructure and operational aspects.

In crisis situations, one must react quickly and, above all, appropriately to the new challenges. Ideally, long-term and sustainable strategies are developed. The biggest innovation in this project is the development of a process that combines the three worlds of resilience, communication and simulation. This process is being developed with a focus on sustainability so that it can be used on a meta-level beyond Covid-19. This means that ESCaPe-PLAN can also be used to focus on climate change and its consequences (e.g. landslides, floods, decarbonization), enabling companies to face future crises in a resilient manner.

Implementation and measures

Through the interdisciplinary approach and the involvement of the relevant decision makers, especially customer representatives, an innovative process is developed, with which optimal measures can be implemented quickly. In this way, acute challenges in passenger and freight mobility can be identified and adequate ideas and (soft) measures can be found (expert discussions, focus groups) in order to increase the passengers’ sense of security again, and new vehicle concepts and technical measures can be developed and services adapted. The identified ideas will be computer simulated with already existing tools, which will allow to evaluate their short or long term impact on certain target variables (e.g. benefits, costs, time span, probability of adherence, etc.). Accompanying this is the development of an embracing resilience model for companies around the rail system, enabling them to respond quickly and efficiently to crisis situations. As a third track, the necessary and optimized communication strategy for users and customers will be developed. This accompanies the entire process and is evaluated on an ongoing basis.

Symbolic image for real-time guidance of passengers by means of an optical level indicator, which shows the occupancy of the (arriving) wagons by means of traffic light colors on the platform.
People in the rail system: Traffic light control at a platform for real-time guidance of passengers based on the fill level of a wagon using AI methods (symbol image).

The process - a master plan

Survey as a process step to find ideas for possible measures.

  • Research. Kick-off discussions with decision-makers: What measures are already being implemented in the company, in what form, and how well and effectively?
  • Creation of an idea box for measures from expert interviews: early involvement of employees, experts from all relevant areas and customers ensures that the measures developed are accepted. Idea box is not a work instruction, but internal discussion input.

Acceptance as a process step to reduce the measures found.

Identified ideas/measures are clustered, acceptance is clarified with staff & employees - and customers & customers focus groups.

Testing as a process step to identify optimal measures.

Measures can be tested cost-effectively before actual implementation using simulation tools. Criteria for decision support include benefits, costs, time span and effort for implementation. In addition, legally prescribed measures and their effects on the spread of infection can be taken into account in the simulated scenarios.

Decision and implementation of measures

In the final step, the identified measures are evaluated and selected by the decision makers. The now selected measures are implemented, flanked by appropriate accompanying communication strategies to strengthen acceptance.

The entire process is supported by the creation of a resilience model for the agile and innovative management of complex situations. This is done in close consultation with the decision-makers in order to be able to test corresponding wishes in an agile manner.

You can download this project summary here as PDF. For further information or the complete final report of the project please contact us!

Project Consortium

Funding notice

Logos of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG and the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK)
This project was funded in the program Mobility of the Future (“Mobilität der Zukunft”) by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK).