Evaluating the Connectivity and Imbalance Contribution of New Sections towards Highway Network: A Complex Network Perspective

Abstract

The evaluation of the impacts of new sections on the highway network is an essential aspect of the feasibility study. Existing studies predominantly concentrated on engineering-oriented feasibility assessments, often overlooking their potential effects on parallel sections and the overall network. In this research, we present an evaluation model for new sections based on complex networks, focusing on the connectivity and imbalance of transportation networks. This model serves as a supplementary approach for enhancing the feasibility analysis of new highway projects. The model comprises three distinct modules, namely, complex network, eigenvalue, and evaluation. Therein, the complex network provides diverse attributes for sections with the dynamic edge weights. Moreover, probability betweenness centrality and volume betweenness centrality have been presented as an eigenvalue of sections based on the multilayer complex network. Furthermore, the connectivity evaluation based on the eigenvalue and the imbalance evaluation based on the entropy and Gini coefficient are conducted. Through the case study, the results of the model demonstrate the connectivity and imbalance contribution of new sections and provide a novel perspective for the feasibility study.