Evaluation of the Structural Resilience of Multi-Mode Transportation Networks in Metropolitan Areas: A Case Study of the Jinan Metropolitan Area, China

As a core factor in advancing urban agglomeration development and new urbanization, the structural resilience of multi-modal transportation networks in metropolitan areas directly determines their disturbance resistance during emergencies and their sustainable development. To address the prevalent “core–peripheral” connectivity imbalance in medium-sized metropolitan areas, this study takes the Jinan Metropolitan Area as an empirical case to systematically explore its multi-modal transportation network’s structural resilience. A three-dimensional evaluation framework of “absorbing capacity–buffering capacity–recovery capacity” was built based on complex network theory. Network efficiency was used to measure absorbing capacity, the average number of independent paths was used to characterize buffering capacity, and structural entropy was used to determine recovery capacity. The entropy weight method was used to calculate integrated multi-dimensional resilience values, and a sequential node failure simulation was used to analyze network invulnerability. The main findings are as follows: (1) The Jinan Metropolitan Area’s multi-modal transportation network has “small-world characteristics” but low density, with trunk line coverage gaps. (2) Sub-networks differ significantly. The railway sub-network performs best, the highway sub-network is the weakest, and the composite network achieves resilience balance through multi-modal collaboration. (3) Node failure analysis reveals that “core hubs are resilience pillars, while secondary highway nodes are weaknesses.” The proposed “three-dimensional evaluation framework” provides a methodological reference for resilience quantification in similar metropolitan areas, and the “trunk line densification + peripheral connection” strategy supports the implementation of metropolitan planning policies to promote modern metropolitan transportation systems with efficient commuting and robust disturbance resistance.