Track Record: Do Major Urban Subway Networ...
Neil
17 May 2012
[Scientific American] -- Track Record: Do Major Urban Subway Networks Evolve along Similar Patterns?
The researchers uncovered three simple features that make subway system topologies similar all around the world.
First, subway networks can be divided into a core and branches, like a spider with many legs. The “core” typically sits beneath the city’s center, and its stations usually form a ring shape. The branches, which are more linear, extend outward from the core in many directions.
Second, the branches tend to be about twice as long as the width of the core. The wider the core, the longer the branches. And subway systems with more stations tend to have more branches. The number of branches corresponds roughly with the square root of the number of stations.
Last, an average of 20 percent of the stations in the core link two or more subway lines, allowing people to make transfers.
http://www.scientifi...networks-evolve
The researchers uncovered three simple features that make subway system topologies similar all around the world.
First, subway networks can be divided into a core and branches, like a spider with many legs. The “core” typically sits beneath the city’s center, and its stations usually form a ring shape. The branches, which are more linear, extend outward from the core in many directions.
Second, the branches tend to be about twice as long as the width of the core. The wider the core, the longer the branches. And subway systems with more stations tend to have more branches. The number of branches corresponds roughly with the square root of the number of stations.
Last, an average of 20 percent of the stations in the core link two or more subway lines, allowing people to make transfers.
http://www.scientifi...networks-evolve
