Abstract
This study adopts Complex Network Theory in the context of bus transit network. The study aims at quantifying the topological characteristics and assessing the validity of static-robustness metrics as expressive measures of transit networks robustness. In addition, dynamic-robustness indices, that consider transit operational profile, are utilized to measure the cascading impacts of disruptive events. The analysis is based on a dataset of 40 bus transit networks. The results indicate that bus networks don’t conform to any major network class: scale-free, small-world, or random. Furthermore, the static-robustness metrics produced contradictory results, which raises valid concerns on their applicability. The dynamic-robustness indices developed in the current study indicated significant cascading impacts resulting from node removal relative to the removal of links. This behaviour was further examined through a two-step cluster analysis, which resulted in three distinct network clusters: small node-sensitive; small link-sensitive; and medium less-sensitive networks. These findings are directed to inform a robustness-based design of bus transit networks.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Moataz Mohamed http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1345-7240
Mohamed Ezzeldin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6104-1031
Wael El-Dakhakhni http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8617-261X