Hub-Periphery Hierarchy in Bus Transportation Networks: Gini Coefficients and the Seoul Bus System

Abstract

Bus transportation networks are characteristically different from other mass transportation systems such as airline or subway networks, and thus the usual approach may not work properly. In this paper, to analyze the bus transportation network, we employ the Gini coefficient, which measures the disparity of weights of bus stops. Applied to the Seoul bus system specifically, the Gini coefficient allows us to classify nodes in the bus network into two distinct types: hub and peripheral nodes. We elucidate the structural properties of the two types in the years 2011 and 2013, and probe the evolution of each type over the two years. It is revealed that the hub type evolves according to the controlled growth process while the peripheral one, displaying a number of new constructions as well as sudden closings of bus stops, is not described by growth dynamics. The Gini coefficient thus provides a key mathematical criterion of decomposing the transportation network into a growing one and the other. It would also help policymakers to deal with the complexity of urban mobility and make more sustainable city planning.