Origin of the Scaling Law in Human Mobility: Hierarchy of Traffic Systems

This article describes how uncovering the human traveling pattern is of fundamental importance in the understanding of various spatiotemporal phenomena. The article finds applications in the design of traffic systems, the control of human infectious disease and mobile virus spreading, the military service planning, the prediction of human mobility, and so on. Although empirical results about the scaling law of long-range human travels have been reported for years, they lack the understanding of the underlying mechanism. Inspired by the observed hierarchical organization of disparate networks, the author’s model describes a random walk process in hierarchical Euclidean networks. Although the assumption of random walking process is the simplest one in the description of human travels, the model described in this article can well reproduce the spatiotemporal statistics of mobility and reveal the spatial effects of hierarchical organization, implying the human traveling behaviors are strongly affected by the geographical structure of traffic systems. The author’s model not only provides a possible origin for the emergence of scaling law in human mobility patterns, but also contributes to the understanding of the correlations and interactions between human activities and the organization of social environment.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/15393755
• Authors:
  • Han, Xiao-Pu
  • Hao, Qing-Yi
  • Wang, Bing-Hong
  • Zhou, Tao
• Publication Date: 2011-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 5p
• Serial:
  • Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
  • Volume: 83
  • Issue Number: 3 Part 2
  • Publisher: American Physical Society
  • ISSN: 1539-3755
  • EISSN: 1550-2376
  • Serial URL: http://pre.aps.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Human factors engineering; Mobility; Planning; Traffic control; Travel behavior; Travel patterns; Walking
• Uncontrolled Terms: Long distance travel models; Scaling law; Spatiotemporal analysis; Traffic system performance
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01342536
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 23 2011 9:06AM