Quantifying Inconvenience in Incomplete Urban Street Networks: A New Metric

Mathur, Ankur

Quantifying Inconvenience in Incomplete Urban Street Networks: A New Metric

Abstract

Incomplete networks are those in which a road/intersection are unavailable to route through. Information centrality has been used to quantify the efficiency loss due to incompleteness. We propose a new topological method to quantify this by summing the excess distances one must travel. The new metric (SED) is found to be significantly correlated with IC across three representative networks. It is distributed Weibull and we provide a theoretical basis as to why. IC is distributed as a power law with varying exponents. The research then proposes several metrics to rank networks based on different policy questions. From the IC one can rank by the network’s inherent inequity. From the SED, one can rank per median/modal SED, percentage of most susceptible nodes, and excess CO2 emitted. Finally, we propose how SED can be helpful in location setting and theorize the existence of a trade-off between SED and the network’s operating cost.

Date Issued

2017-08-30

Keywords

Civil engineering; information centrality; quantifying inconvenience; urban network ranking; urban policy; urban street networks; Weibull distribution; Transportation; Urban planning

Committee Chair

Gao, Huaizhu

Committee Member

Samaranayake, Samitha

Degree Discipline

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Degree Name

M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering

Degree Level

Master of Science

Types

dissertation or thesis