Sustainable Transportation Engineering

Joerg Schweizer
March 31, 2015

Contents
3 Networks
3.1 Network modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.1 Definition of network elements . . . . . . .
3.1.2 Example of network graphs . . . . . . . . .
3.1.3 Topological matrix representation of graphs
3.2 Representation of transport demand . . . . . . . .
3.2.1 Study area and zoning . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.2 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 3

Networks
This chapter explains how to represent a real (or planned) transport network in form
of a mathematical model. This model will be the bases for all subsequent analyses,
including transport demand estimation and traffic assignment (determination of vehicle flows on each network link). Once the vehicle flows on the entire network are
known, we can quantify its environmental, economical and social impact.
A comprehensive theoretical treatment of network extraction and modeling can
be found in the book of Cascetta [1].

3.1

Network modeling

Transport planning uses mathematical transport network models (called graphs) to

simulate and predict the performance and impacts of present and future transport
systems and services. A transport graph is made of links and nodes as shown in
Fig. 3.1. The links model the physical transport line (road, railway, footpath) or
processes (waiting, ticketing, queuing), while the nodes are points where links can be
joined. With classical demand models, nodes are the location where the beginning
and end of journeys are concentrated. Nodes where journeys start end end are called
centroids, see Sec. 3.2.1.
Such a transport graph is only a simplified approximation of what is happening
in the real world. Simplification is neccessary, too sophisticated models are expensive
to calibrate and there is the risk that the sum of non-relevant details obscure relevant
aspects.
Network extraction means to extract a mathematical model network from a real
transport network. In particular, the network extraction deals with the decision which
real transport linkes will be modelled and where the nodes should be located. The
objectives is to model all relevant aspects of the real network while minimizing non
relevant details.
Once the study area and zones are identified, it is necessary to model the transport
network, link by link and node by node.

3.1.1

Definition of network elements

Here we will briefly introduce the mathematical notations of a transport network.

Example networks are given further below.

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

node 4
4
5

lin
k

link

link

link 4
link

2
link 2

link 7
Figure 3.1: Example network made of links and nodes.
Links and nodes
A transport network is typically represented by a graph G which consist of:
A set of nodes N = {n1 , n2 , . . . nN }
A set of links (edges or arcs) A = {a1 , a2 , . . . aM }

Each link a is linked with nodes n1 e n2

Each link a is associated with a cost ca

Each link a is associated with a vehicle flow fa

a
n1 (n , n ) n2
1
2
n1
i

ca
cn1 ,n2
fa

n2
j

Often links have attributes that allow to determine the link costs. The most
common attributes are the link length `a and the average travel speed va .
Flow equation

Assuming A+
i is the set of links entering node i and Ai is the set of links leaving
node i, as illustrated in Fig. 3.2. If node i is not a centroid, then
X
X
fa
fa = 0
aA+
i

aA
i

which means that the sum of vehicle flows entering and leaving a node is always zero
as long as the node does not generate or absorb traffic demand.
Link costs
The link cost ca depend on the physical system or process represented by link a, the
most typical examples are:

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

A
i

A+
i
i

Figure 3.2: Flow inputs and outputs of node i

travel time i.e. ca =

`a
va

delays (waiting, ticketing,...)

monetary costs (petrol, parking, tickets and fees,...)
perceived safety, others...
Further below we show examples of different transport networks (or sub-networks)
which demonstrate the versatile use of links and link costs.
Costs of congested links
For some important traffic modes such as the road network, the link costs ca are not
constant but depend on the traffic flow fa on the very same link. A congested link
is defined as link where the traffic flow (or likewise traffic density) is impacting the
travel speed.
On a congested road, cars drives slower at shorter headways. But if cars drive
slower, it means that they will take a longer time to cross a link of a constant length,
which in turn increases the costs of the specific link.
We have learned in the previous chapter that the flow f , headway TH = 1/f
and traveling speed v are interdependent. One example has been the Greenshields
model:
Assuming
the vehicles on link a have a constant velocity . Then fa (va ) =


J va

2
va
VF

with the inverse function(s)

p
va (fa ) =

J 2 VF 2 4 fa J VF J VF
.
2 J

For values va above the critical speed va > VF /2 we can determine the time trip time
ca (fa ) = `a /va (fa ):
ca (fa ) = `a p

2 J
2

J VF 4 fa J VF + J VF

An example of flow dependent link costs is shown in Fig. 3.3.

In general, the link cost ca (fa ) can be expressed as a function of the traffic flow
fa on link a. If the link costs on a network are not constant but depend on the traffic
flows then the network is considered a congested network.

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

80
75

travel time ca(fa) [s]

70
65
60
55
50
45
40
0

500

1000
1500
Flow fa [veh/h]

2000

2500

Figure 3.3: Link costs ca (fa ) for an example link a of length `a = 1000m and with
Greenshields model parameters J = 100veh/km and VF = 90km/h.
Links and routes
A route (or path) r is composed of a sequence of N adjacent links:
r = [a1 , a2 , . . . , aN ]

a1

a2

aN

r = [a1 , a2 , . . . , aN ]
A route describes exactly how a person or vehicle travels from the node of origin to
the node of destination e.g. it is the sequence of links that are crossed to reach the
destination.
In general there are multiple routes rk , k = 1 . . . N between two nodes in a network. This is a simple example with 2 routes connecting centroid 1 and 2:
r2 = [5, 6, 7]
5
1

6
2

4
2

r1 = [1, 2, 3, 4]

Route costs
In general the route cost gk is a function of the respective link costs:

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

ca1

ca2

caN

gk = ca1 + ca2 + . . . + caN

Typically, the route cost gk of route rk equals the sum of the link costs ca of all links
contained in rk [1]:
X
gk =
ca
ark

This is the case if costs are additive. For example if costs are representing the time
or fuel costs then it is obvious that the travel time for the entire route equals the sum
of the times needed to cross each of its links.
Special route costs
There are many cases in which there are fixed route costs, costs that are independent
of the number or length of the links. The most typical fixed route cost is the bus
ticket, which is valid for the whole urban area. In general the fixed cost gk,Fix is
simply added to the other costs, hence
X
gk = gk,Fix +
ca .
ark

Centroids and virtual links

The links connecting centroids are called virtual links or fictitious links (see Fig. 3.4)
because they do connect to a point that does not exist in reality but has been introduced to simplify the modeling (centroids are the nodes where the transport demand
of an entire zone is concentrated, see Sec. 3.2.1). Later in the traffic assignment,

c1,2

c3,2

c2,6
Centroid
Virtual link

c3,4

c4,6

c6,5

c4,5
5
Figure 3.4: Centroids and virtual links
virtual links have a special role in that they can only be used for passengers or vehicle
that have the respective centroid either as destination or origin (virtual links cannot
be used as through road).

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

Internal centroid
External centroid
Censiment boundary
Zone boundaries
Main roads
Railway

Figure 3.5: Extraction of the road network

3.1.2

Example of network graphs

Here is a small sample of examples on how real transport networks can be translated
into links, nodes and link costs. Note that in classical transport planning networks of
different modes are extracted in different graphs. i.e. one graph for the road network,
another for the public transport network. The graph of public transport network is
often complemented by the footpath network, as shown below.
Road network model
In the example below we see the road network model of Fig. 3.5.
Road junction models
The graphs below model junctions. Note that, dependent on the scope of the study
(city wide or local) the level of detail of a junction can vary. A junction can be as
simple as a single node or individual turns can be modeled.
Multiple line public transport service
The graph in Fig. 3.7 models 2 stations connected with three bus (or rail) lines.
Note the different role of links: travel time, waiting time, walking buying the
ticket, boarding, etc. The respective link costs need to be determined accordingly!
If a network contains link costs of different units (example time and money) then all

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.6: Junction models: (a) road junction at different levels of detail. (b) roundabout.

Destination

Origin

Road

Ticketing
Waiting
Station
Boarding
Line 1

Station
Alighting

Line 2
Line 3
Figure 3.7: Multiple line public transport with access network.
attributes are monetized. This means that all quantities that are perceived by the
user as link cost are converted in monetary costs.

3.1.3

Topological matrix representation of graphs

Here we explain different, equivalent ways to represent the topology of graphs in

matrix form. The different matrices help later to calculate route costs and other
parameters.

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

The link-route incidence matrix

In transport planning the link-route incidence matrix is often used in literature to
represent the graphs topology. The link-route incidence matrix of a finite graph G
with NA links and NR feasible routes is the NA NR matrix where ar = 1 if link
a r and ar = 0 otherwise.
Example:

r1
1
1
2

5
5

3
r2
3 4

4
r3

2
The feasible routes of the above graph are:

r1 = [3], r2 = [1, 4, 5], r3 = [2, 4, 5]

which results in the following incidence matrix:

0 1 0
0 0 1

=
1 0 0
0 1 1
0 1 1

Note that the first 2 columns of , correspondent to routes r1 , r2 connect OD-pair

(1, 5) while last column, correspondent to route r3 , connecting OD-pair (2, 5).
Link costs and route costs with link-route matrix
The link-route matrix is an elegant way to map link costs to route costs.
0
0
If g = (g1 . . . gk . . .) is the route cost vector and c = (c1 . . . ca . . .) is the link
cost vector then
g = 0 c.
The (0 ) sign indicates the transposed operator.
Adjacency matrix
The adjacency matrix of a finite graph G with N nodes is the N N matrix A where
the non-diagonal entry Aij is the number of edges from node i to node j, while the
diagonal entries Aii are twice the number of links from node i to itself.
Example (with bidirectional links):
6
3
2

4
5

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

10

The adjacency matrix of this graph becomes:

2 1 0
1 0 1

0 1 0
A=
0 0 1

1 1 0
0 0 0

0
0
1
0
1
1

1
1
0
1
0
0

0
0

0
0

Incidence matrix
The incidence matrix of a directed graph G is a N M matrix Cij where N and
M are the number of nodes and links respectively, such that Cij = 1 if the link aj
leaves node ni , Cij = 1 if it enters node ni and Cij = 0 otherwise.
Example:
1
1

3
6
4

The incidence matrix of the above graph becomes:

+1 1 1 +1 0
0
1 +1 0
0
+1
0

0
0 1 1 +0
C=
0
0
0 +1 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 1

3.2

0
0

1
+1

Representation of transport demand

Transport demand is the need or the desire to transport people or freight. In a

strict sense, the demand is what happens before the transport process takes place:
the transport user is planning when and where he/she will move, which vehicle
type will be employed and which route (or path) will be taken. The execution of
these travel plans will generate traffic (i.e. the traffic flows) on the transport network.
Transport demand modeling will be treated in the next chapter.
Here we describe briefly how the known demand is represented in the transport
network. We will deal with a specific, but widely used demand: the number of
desired trips between a node associated with the origin, and a node associated with
the destination.
Transport demand
The transport demand cannot be observed in a real transport network, only its consequences (the traffic flows).

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

11

Trips per hour

Work trips
Other trips

Demand [trips/h]

Demand percentage

Transport demand changes during the day (see Fig. 3.8) and the total daily demand changes cyclically during the week and during one year. As Fig. 3.8 demonstrates, demand is not constant during 1 hour in particular not during rush hours. .

Hours
Figure 3.8: Daily demand for different types of trips.

3.2.1

Study area and zoning

Definition of study area, zoning and centroids

The first step of any demand analysis, is to define the boundaries of the study area.
It is important to define the study area such that it covers the activity-centers of
potential users of a planned transport project, see example in Fig. 3.9.
The spacial division of the study area in zones is called zoning. With zoning, the
origins as well as the destinations of trips (during a defined time interval) within a
zone are lumped together to a special node, called centroid. There is usually only one
centroid per zone.
Zoning has two main purposes: (i) zones allow to simplify the modeling of the
transport network and (ii) they allow to apply statistical methods to estimate the
transport demand. In classical transport planning such aggregations are necessary
because it would be too work intensive to model each individual who lives inside the
study area. However, modern micro-simulations can generate virtual populations by
modeling also each individual, as we shall see in the demand modeling chapter.
Centroids within the study area are called internal centroids, otherwise they are
external. The external centroids have the purpose to model the external traffic that
flows in and out of the study area. External centroids are therefore linked only with
major roads or railway lines. Usually there are fewer external centroids than there
are internals. Too many external links usually indicates that the study area needs to
be enlarged to include such links.

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

12

Internal centroid
External centroid
Censiment boundary
Zone boundaries
Main roads
Railway

Figure 3.9: Example of study area and zoning.

Criteria for the identification of zone boundaries
The zones should be chosen as large as possible in order to simplify planning and
to increase statistical significance of transport demand. On the other hand, a zone
should be sufficiently small and homogeneous, otherwise the statics are no longer
representative for the travel demand of a particular zone. The following criteria can
be used to define zone boundaries:
Physical separators (rivers, rails, major roads, green-space, etc.) prevent people
from a frequent exchange between zones
Zoning used by the census
Choose smaller zones for areas with high population densities and larger zones
to cover low density areas
The area inside a zone should (possibly) have a homogeneous land-use (residential, industrial, recreation or mixed)
Demand representation on a network
Instead of the cumulative demand (trips per hour in a city), the demand on a network
is the number of trips per time interval between two nodes (usually two centroids).
Figure 3.10 shows all possible destinations for a transport demand originating from
node 1.

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

13

1
d12 2
Internal centroid
External centroid
Censiment boundary
Zone boundaries
Main roads
Railway

Figure 3.10: Transport demand from centroid node 1 to all other centroid nodes
In general there is a transport demand from each node of origin o to each node of
destination d. If demand is assumed constant over a specific observation period then
the demand within the study area can be expressed by a origin-to-destination matrix
which contains the demand dod between all origin o and destination d nodes:
Nodes of destination

Nodes of origin

Internal-Internal
(I-I)

Internal-Exernal
(I-E)

d5,3

Exernal-Internal Exernal-External
(E-E)
(E-I)
(Throughtraffic)

Typically the nodes of origins are the nodes in the rows and the destinations are the
nodes in the columns. Dependent onthe location of the nodes (inside or outside the
study area) we have:
the internal-to-internal demand. This will generate only traffic within the study
area.
the internal-to-external demand. This will generate traffic on roads leaving the
study area.
the external-to-internal demand. This will generate traffic on roads entering the
study area.
the external-to-external demand. This is the through-traffic on roads entering
and leaving the study area, but not on smaller internal roads.
There are towns where the through-traffic is much greater than all the other traffic.
The trough traffic could be eliminated by by-pass roads.

CHAPTER 3. NETWORKS

3.2.2

14

Properties

Properties of origin-to-destination matrices

The total number
P of trips leaving node of origin o during the considered time
interval is do = d dod
The total number of P
trips arriving at destination node d during the considered
time interval is dd = o dod
P P
The total number of trips during the considered time interval is d = o d dod
By convention only centroids have non-zero demand
Flow equation with centroids
If node i is a centroid, then
X

fa

aA+
i

where N is the set of all nodes.

X
aA
i

fa =

X
oN

doi

X
dN

did

Bibliography
[1] E. Cascetta. Transportation systems engineering: theory and methods. Kluwer
Academic Publisher, Boston/Dordrecht/London, 2001. (Italian version available).

15