Vulnerability Analysis of Urban Rail Transit Networks: A Case Study of Shanghai, China

Daniel (Jian) Sun, Yuhan Zhao and Qing-Chang Lu
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Daniel (Jian) Sun: State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Yuhan Zhao: Transportation Research Center, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Qing-Chang Lu: State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Rail transit is developing rapidly in major cities of China and has become a key component of urban transport. Nevertheless, the security and reliability in operation are significant issues that cannot be neglected. In this paper, the network and station vulnerabilities of the urban rail transit system were analyzed based on complex network and graph theories. A vulnerability evaluation model was proposed by accounting metro interchange and passenger flow and further validated by a case study of Shanghai Metro with full-scale network and real-world traffic data. It is identified that the urban rail transit network is rather robust to random attacks, but is vulnerable to the largest degree node-based attacks and the highest betweenness node-based attacks. Metro stations with a large node degree are more important in maintaining the network size, while stations with a high node betweenness are critical to network efficiency and origin-destination (OD) connectivity. The most crucial stations in maintaining network serviceability do not necessarily have the highest passenger throughput or the largest structural connectivity. A comprehensive evaluation model as proposed is therefore essential to assess station vulnerability, so that attention can be placed on appropriate nodes within the metro system. The findings of this research are of both theoretical and practical significance for urban rail transit network design and performance evaluation.

Keywords: vulnerability analysis; urban rail transit networks; complex network theory; metro interchange; passenger flow (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

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