Studying the Topology of Transportation Systems through Complex Networks: Handle with Care

Zanin, Massimiliano; Sun, Xiaoqian; Wandelt, Sebastian

doi:10.1155/2018/3156137

Cited by 45 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 99 publications

(111 reference statements)

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“…It is common practice to compare empirical network to a null model ensemble to distinguish important network properties from trivial ones, and to enable comparisons with other networks [33]. Here, we follow the process described in [34] to normalize the metrics of the observed networks. First, we generated 5 configuration model ensembles (one for each year) without self-loops or multiple edges and with 10l re-wiring iterations.…”

Section: Network Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Network analysis of regional livestock trade in West Africa

Valerio

Walther

Eilittä³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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In West Africa, long and complex livestock value chains connect producers mostly in the Sahel with consumption basins in urban areas and the coast. Regional livestock trade is highly informal and, despite recent efforts to understand animal movement patterns in the region, remains largely unrecorded. Using CILSS' database on intraregional livestock trade, we built yearly and overall weighted networks of animal movements between markets. We mapped and characterized the trade networks, identified market communities, key markets and their roles. Additionally, we compared the observed network properties with null-model generated ensembles. Most movements corresponded to cattle, were made by vehicle, and originated in Burkina Faso. We found that live animals in the central and eastern trade basins flow through well-defined, long distance trade corridors where markets tend to trade in a disassortive way with others in their proximity. Modularity-based communities indicated that both national and cross-border trade groups exist. The network's degree and link distributions followed a log-normal or a power-law distribution, and key markets located primarily in urban centers and near borders serve as hubs that give peripheral markets access to the regional network. The null model ensembles could not reproduce the observed higher-level properties, particularly the propinquity and highly negative assortativity, suggesting that other possibly spatial factors shape the structure of regional live animal trade. Our findings support eliminating cross-border impediments and improving the condition of the regional road network, which limit intraregional trade of and contribute to the high prices of food products in West Africa. Although with limitations, our study sheds light on the abstruse structure of regional livestock trade, and the role of trade communities and markets in West Africa.

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Section: Network Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Network analysis of regional livestock trade in West Africa

Valerio

Walther

Eilittä³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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“…For example, many studies explored whether PTNs possess scale-free (Barabási and Albert, 1999) and small-world (Watts and Strogatz, 1998) features, which are considered among the most significant topological properties for characterizing networks. For more detailed summary and discussion of these studies, readers are referred to the reviews by Derrible and Kennedy (2011) and Zanin et al (2018).…”

Section: Network Science Analysis Of Ptnsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating network science and public transport accessibility analysis for comparative assessment

Luo

Cats

Lint

et al. 2019

Journal of Transport Geography

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Network science offers powerful concepts and methods for studying complex systems, such as public transport networks. However, many existing studies on complex network analysis of public transport networks were primarily motivated to test network science concepts using real-life networks. Consequently, important properties related to public transport services in these studies have been overlooked. This has led to claims made by transport researchers that these works do not necessarily improve the understanding of system properties and performance. To bridge this gap, this study integrates network science and public transport accessibility analysis for comparative assessment across multiple public transport networks. The primary contribution of this study pertains to developing a method based on network science for computing public transport accessibility measured as the average travel impedance. The travel impedance metric is defined based on the generalized travel cost between stop pairs, containing initial and transfer waiting times, in-vehicle travel times and time-equivalent transfer penalty costs. To perform efficient computation, we propose a new type of weighted graph representation of public transport networks, which explicitly incorporates travel costs that are derived from general transit feed specification (GTFS) data. Besides the methodological contribution, the secondary one of this study consists in performing a comparative assessment of worldwide tram networks' accessibility. The analysis shows insights into how different travel components (e.g., in-vehicle travel times and waiting and transfer times) specifically account for the variance in accessibility across different networks. Additional references for improving the designing and planning of public transport networks can be obtained from such comparative assessments.

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“…The primal approach, however, has been more widespread in urban transport studies, as it retains the geography of the system in its representation of the transport problem and matches the real-life experiences of humans (Porta et al, 2006a(Porta et al, , 2006b. As transport networks tend to have small-world network properties, measures calculated on networks that follow the primal approach need to be used with care when being compared with other networks (Zanin, Sun, & Wandelt, 2018).…”

Section: Spatial Network Measures and The Snamuts Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable accessibility in rural destinations: a public transport network approach

Tomej

Liburd

2019

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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There can be no sustainable tourism development without sustainable mobility, which is contingent on informed planning and policy. In rural regions, tourist attractions are spatially scattered, and poor transport planning translates into lower accessibility for non-driving visitors, yet few sustainable planning tools are available for non-urban tourism contexts. This paper seeks to fill this gap by combining advances in transport geography, rural transport, and transport for tourism, and we develop an original algorithm for evaluating sustainable accessibility of tourist attractions within regional rural destinations. Based on the Spatial Network Analysis for Multimodal Urban Transport Systems (SNAMUTS) framework (Curtis & Scheurer, 2010), the use of spatial network measures is presented in a scalable and understandable manner that can be replicated by users with basic mathematical skills and computer software. The applicability of the algorithm is illustrated in the case of West Balaton Region in Hungary. The article demonstrates the use of sustainable transport accessibility as a measure for transport evaluation that considers both environmental aspects and social justice framed as sustainable tourism participation for all.

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Studying the Topology of Transportation Systems through Complex Networks: Handle with Care

Cited by 45 publications

References 99 publications

Network analysis of regional livestock trade in West Africa

Network analysis of regional livestock trade in West Africa

Integrating network science and public transport accessibility analysis for comparative assessment

Sustainable accessibility in rural destinations: a public transport network approach

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