CAREER: The Evolution of Transportation Networks: Empirical Research and Agent-Based Models

Principal Investigator(s):

David Levinson, Former U of M Professor, Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering

Project summary:

This research endeavors to understand the evolutionary growth process of transportation networks on both theoretical and empirical levels, recognizing the inter-dependence of supply and demand, and to develop agent-based models to replicate that process. Key questions to be examined include: Why do networks expand and contract? Do networks self-organize into hierarchies? Are roads (routes) an emergent property of networks? What investment rules predict the sequence and location of network improvements? When are already existing facilities expanded (more lanes on the same link) as opposed to new facilities being provided (a new link)? How can transportation planning be improved to take advantage of a new understanding of network evolution?

Project details:

  • Project number: 2004069
  • Start date: 07/2003
  • Project status: Completed
  • Research area: Environment and Energy