The weakest link: The decline of the surface transportation network

Feng Xie and David Levinson

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2008, vol. 44, issue 1, 100-113

Abstract: This study explores the economic mechanisms behind the decline of a surface transportation network, based on the assumption that the decline phase is a spontaneous process driven by decentralized decisions of individual travelers and privatized links. A simulation model is developed with a degeneration process by which the weakest link is removed iteratively from the network. Experiments reveal how the economic efficiency of a network evolves during the degeneration process and suggest an "optimal" degenerated network could be derived during the decline phase in terms of maximizing total social welfare.

Keywords: Decline; Transportation; network; Simulation; Welfare; Accessibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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