Study on the Complexity and the Related Problems of the Traffic and Transportation Networks

Through the analysis of the application of the complex network theory in the aviation, the rail transit (subways and railways), and the city transport (buses and roads) and so on, the author points out that the complexity of the system is the root of the complexity of the transportation network. In the complex network analysis, we always neglect the problems caused by the geographical extensity, namely generally we think that traffic and transportation network is the small-world network or the scale-free network. Currently, the researches on the complexity of the traffic and transportation networks based on the statistical physics are mainly the topological theoretical analysis or data modeling, and there is still a wide gap with the actual network structures and characteristics and the dynamic mechanisms. The author comprehensively analyzes the theories and the practice of the complex networks, and presents the main contents of the future researches on the complexity of the traffic and transportation network: (1) the basic understandings of the complexity of the network structures of the traffic and transportation system; (2) the analysis of the network complexity with the geo-spatial characteristics as the basis; (3) the analysis and application of the complexity of the network structures based on the organizations and efficiencies; (4) the interactive relationship between various flows resulting from the interaction and the network structures; (5) the characteristics of the local structures of the network and the influence of it on the wide area structures; (6) the influence of the openness of the system on the evolution of the network.