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Road network circuity in metropolitan areas

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  • David J Giacomin
  • David M Levinson

Abstract

Circuity, the ratio of network to Euclidean distances, describes the directness of trips and the efficiency of transportation networks. This paper measures the circuity of the fifty-one most populated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States and identifies trends in those circuities between 1990 and 2010. Overall circuity has increased between 1990 and 2010: random points have not only become farther apart in distance, their shortest network path has become more circuitous, suggesting that the more recently constructed parts of street networks are laid out more circuitously than older parts of the network. Over this period thirty-five MSAs experienced a statistically significant increase in circuity (six experienced a significant decrease). As expected, short trips are more circuitous than long trips. A new circuity distance-decay function describes how circuity varies with distance within metropolitan areas. The parameters of this function have changed from 1990 to 2010.

Suggested Citation

  • David J Giacomin & David M Levinson, 2015. "Road network circuity in metropolitan areas," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 42(6), pages 1040-1053, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:42:y:2015:i:6:p:1040-1053
    DOI: 10.1068/b130131p
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Boeing, Geoff, 2019. "Street Network Models and Measures for Every U.S. City, County, Urbanized Area, Census Tract, and Zillow-Defined Neighborhood," SocArXiv 7fxjz, Center for Open Science.
    2. Huang, Jie & Levinson, David M., 2015. "Circuity in urban transit networks," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 145-153.
    3. Yat Yen & Pengjun Zhao & Muhammad T Sohail, 2021. "The morphology and circuity of walkable, bikeable, and drivable street networks in Phnom Penh, Cambodia," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(1), pages 169-185, January.
    4. Bergmann, Felix M. & Wagner, Stephan M. & Winkenbach, Matthias, 2020. "Integrating first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery on shared vehicle routes for efficient urban e-commerce distribution," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 26-62.
    5. Boeing, Geoff, 2017. "The Relative Circuity of Walkable and Drivable Urban Street Networks," SocArXiv 4rzqa, Center for Open Science.
    6. Stephen Marshall & Jorge Gil & Karl Kropf & Martin Tomko & Lucas Figueiredo, 2018. "Street Network Studies: from Networks to Models and their Representations," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 735-749, September.
    7. Yang, Wenyue & Chen, Huiling & Wang, Wulin, 2020. "The path and time efficiency of residents' trips of different purposes with different travel modes: An empirical study in Guangzhou, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Boeing, Geoff, 2018. "Urban Spatial Order: Street Network Orientation, Configuration, and Entropy," SocArXiv qj3p5, Center for Open Science.
    9. Barrington-Leigh, Christopher Paul & Millard-Ball, Adam, 2019. "A global assessment of street network sprawl," OSF Preprints 6vp8j, Center for Open Science.
    10. Tyndall, Justin, 2016. "Commuter Mobility and Economic Performance in US Cities," 57th Transportation Research Forum (51st CTRF) Joint Conference, Toronto, Ontario, May 1-4, 2016 319292, Transportation Research Forum.
    11. Merchán, Daniel & Winkenbach, Matthias & Snoeck, André, 2020. "Quantifying the impact of urban road networks on the efficiency of local trips," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 38-62.
    12. Lee, Minjin & Cheon, SangHyun & Son, Seung-Woo & Lee, Mi Jin & Lee, Sungmin, 2023. "Exploring the relationship between the spatial distribution of roads and universal pattern of travel-route efficiency in urban road networks," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Xiaoshu Cao & Feiwen Liang & Huiling Chen & Yongwei Liu, 2017. "Circuity Characteristics of Urban Travel Based on GPS Data: A Case Study of Guangzhou," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-21, November.
    14. Boeing, Geoff, 2019. "The Morphology and Circuity of Walkable and Drivable Street Networks," SocArXiv edj2s, Center for Open Science.
    15. Perez, Yuri & Pereira, Fabio Henrique, 2021. "Simulation of traffic light disruptions in street networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 582(C).
    16. Hu, Xinlei & Huang, Jie & Shi, Feng, 2019. "Circuity in China's high-speed-rail network," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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