Public transportation in Great Britain viewed as a complex network

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we investigate the topological and spatial features of public transport networks (PTN) within Great Britain. Networks investigated include London, Manchester, West Midlands, Bristol, national rail and coach networks during 2011. Using methods in complex network theory and statistical physics, we are able to discriminate PTN with respect to their stability, which is the first of this kind for national networks. Taking advantage of various fractal properties we gain useful insights into the serviceable area of stations. Moreover, we investigate universal load dynamics of these systems. These features can be employed as key performance indicators in aid of further developing efficient and stable PTN.

Keywords:

• Public transit
• complex networks
• fractals

Acknowledgments

We would also like to thank Ralph Kenna, Petro Sarkanych and Joseph Yose for their useful contribution during discussions. YuH acknowledges discussions and useful feedback from the participants of the COST Action TD1210 ‘Knowescape’ during the fourth annual conference (Sofia, 22–24 February 2017).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Robin de Regt http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8760-0193

Notes

1. This data has not been updated so far. The reference Gallotti and Barthélemy (2015) is based on an older version of 2010.

2. The geographical area were obtained via Wikipedia.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the EU FP7 Projects No. 612707 ‘Dynamics of and in Complex Systems’ (DIONICOS), No. 612669 ‘Structure and Evolution of Complex Systems with Applications in Physics and Life Sciences’ (STREVCOMS) and the http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004742 National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Project No. 43/18-H (ML).