Project Summary

Client:Personal Project

Core tasks: Network Science, Data Analysis

Appointed:November 2019

Completion: December 2019

Portfolio Introduction

For this project, I was tasked to give an in-depth analysis of one complex adaptive system of my choosing.

After reviewing the project documentation carefully, I decided to write my analysis on the city of Seattle, Washington. 

Here, I focused on a network analysis towards the wide variety of transportation systems within the city.

My goal was to incorporate network visualizations, ideas of network structure and governance, and the interaction between networks, governance, and complex societal systems. The overall purpose for this project was to demonstrate my competence in achieving the following goals:

  1. Perform network visualizations and understand their application in complex systems
  2. Identify the effects of networks on governance and governance on networks
  3. Explain the interaction between networks and governance in the context of a complex adaptive system

Project Summary

Portfolio Introduction

Pre-Planning

Networks

i. Nodes & Edges

Governance

Network Visualization In R

Resolution & Solutions

Pre-Planning

During a brainstorming session, I created a “to-do” list to help organize the direction and flow of my work. Here is the criteria I decided to follow:

Identifying Data Re: Seattle

-Figure out what component of the networks I’d like to use for the network visualization
-Find data that lets me map the network in R using different network packages like graph, graph,tidygraph, etc.
-Write R code, quadruple checking that running the code works on different devices

Define systems of governance

The next step would naturally be defining and understanding types of governance that impact the network:

-Things like laws (city, state, or federal), norms, technical features of systems (like traffic cameras), or any other mechanism that acts in a way that coordinates behavior on the network
-I needed to define those systems of governance, the way that they function, and how they impact the network in order to provide accurate end-results

Analyze the flow of resources on the network

-Explain how the network and governance interact as part of the city’s complex adaptive system
-Document how the governance systems identified directly impact the way resources spread through the city’s network
-Identify how structural issues in the network impact the flow of resources through the network
-Explain how the governance systems and network structures collectively impact the flow of resources on the network

Recommendations for improving the flow of resources

My final brainstorming idea is all about how to make the flow of resources through the network function better:

-Using network structures and governance mechanisms to improve the flow of resources?
-Giving creative recommendations logically and thoroughly without worrying about how they would be implemented
-Explaining recommendations without regard to feasibility due to the inherent uncertainty of our future

Networks

  • So what is a network? Well, here’s the most basic definition of a network:

    • “A pattern of interconnections among a set of things” –Easley & Kleinberg

      • Networks are found over a whole range of topics, so they are all independent of each other
    • There are 4 different types of main networks
      • LAN (Local area networks)- a group of computers connected in a small area, like a building
      • PAN (Personal area networks)- connects individuals devices to each other
      • MAN (Metropolitan area networks)- cover larger geographical areas using multiple LAN’s
      • WAN (Wide area networks)- extends over areas as large as states or even countries
    • When looking at a city like Seattle, we’ll be looking it MAN’s
Transportation Networks


  • Why focus on Transportation Networks?

    • Transportation is something that is very important to all urban areas around the world
      • They give people easy access to places of employment, an array of services, and also amenities too
    • Transportation Networks themselves are made up by a set of links, nodes, and lines that represent either the infrastructure or supply part of transportation
    • Examples of Transportation networks:
      • Road networks
      • Airways
      • Pipelines
      • Railways
      • Aqueducts
Seattle’s Transportation System

Seattle has a vast number of ways that pedestrians can get around, below are just some of the transportation services seattle offers:

  • Link Light Rail
  • Seattle Streetcars
  • Seattle Monorail
  • Buses
  • Cars
  • Ferry
  • Water Taxi

With the number of transportation methods available in Seattle, transportation is a key component in this city.

Seattle has two main transportation agencies

  • King County Metro-local/commuter buses in the county
  • Sound Transit-commuter/light rail and regional busses

Washington State Ferries is the largest ferry system in the US and 3rd largest in the world

In 2019 – Seattle ranks #5 at worst traffic in the nation! 

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Nodes & Edges

  • I defined Nodes as: 

    • “Intersections and hubs where transportation lines meet”

  • I defined Edges (links) as: 

    • “The roads and byways that connect intersections”

The Seattle Municipal Code defines Frequent Transit Service as “transit service headways [time between scheduled bus arrivals] in at least one direction of 15 minutes or less for at least 12 hours per day, 6 days per week, and transit service headways of 30 minutes or less for at least 18 hours every day.”

Important Nodes: 

Northgate

  • Mall, N. Seattle College
    • Form: Bus (Rapid Line, Regular Service)

Campus Pkwy

  • University District (U of Washington)
    • Form: Rail (Direct to S. Seattle)Bus ( Rapid Line, Frequent)
Downtown Seattle
  1. King St. Station (Light Rail)
  2. Greyhound Station (Coach Bus)
  3. Streetcar (Capitol Hill)
  4. Coleman Dock (Ferry)
Important Edges (links):
  1. I-5 (North/South) across Washington State
    1. Features express lanes for HOV vehicles and air bridges across lakes 
  2. I-90 (East/West) transcontinental across USA and Canada. 

Governance

  • Systems of governance that impact the transportation of residents in Seattle:

    • Laws
      • City
      • State
      • Federal
    • Bureaucracy
      • Transportation Department
      • Police Stations
Impact of Governance on the Network

  • Governance due to laws places a limit on the speed of transportation!

    • Police and highway police watch the speed limit of drivers and ticket them with fines that eventually go to the government
  • Governance due to bureaucracy plays a significant role in managing the use of roads and highways
    • Using taxpayer $ to fix and maintain roads
    • Better roads generate more wealth for the city
      • Cars are able to travel more easily with better roads, thus the city gets more traffic, and is able to ship products via trucks easier – the end result increases the wealth of the city overall.
  • Flow of Resources

    • First of all, there are a lot of vehicles. They are the most important part of this system. It is an indispensable element of transportation system. For example, bicycles, cars and buses are the most basic executors (to carry out work) in the whole network, fulfilling all the missions in the network. 

    • Second, urban transportation brings a lot of income and consumption. Everyone needs to pay taxes, buy tickets, and maintain the means of transportation. The human and material resources invested in the use of transportation should be transformed into direct or indirect income of the government. Stimulate the circulation and development of the whole economy. 

    • Third, it is the information that is constantly transmitted in the whole network. Developed transportation must mean a large number of people, a large number of people must mean rich information exchange. This information will also play an important role in the network as part of the resources.

  • How does the interaction of the network with the systems of governance impact the flow of resources on that network?

    • In broad terms, the governance implements national and provincial policies, laws and regulations on highway, roads and local transportation industry.

    • To be specific, the first impact is to organize the implementation of key traffic engineering construction, and coordinate with relevant departments to take charge of the quota management of traffic engineering and the management and supervision of the quality of traffic infrastructure construction projects. 

    • Second, plan the layout of market system, formulate market rules, standardize and supervise market behaviors, maintain the equal competition order of road, eventually in doing so can bring the maximum income that road system could provide. 

    • Last but not least, to be responsible for the management and transportation organization of the city’s highway, roads. Coordinating the connection of road and highways with other transportation modes and organize and implement the transportation of key materials.

Network Visualization In R

Without going into too much detail, I’d like to show you some of the code that I worked on during this project in order to create a visual representation of the network. This is only an excerpt, and you’ll find the full program on my gitlab.

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  • Used API call to access the dataset
  • Converted raw (JSON) data
  • Made data frames with usable data
  • Created graph from data frames
Here are 3 network visualizations that are the result of running the code; files output into a new folder in PDF format:
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Resolution & Solutions

Expanding Public Transportation
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  • Increasing the range and use of the bus system (King County Metro) and their light rail network (Link light rail)
  • From the “Seattle Transit Communities Integrating Neighborhoods with Transit”: 
  • Cities should have public transportation within a 10 minute walk or ¼ of a mile
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Plans For Expansion

Light Rail

  • North up to Lynnwood
  • East to Bellevue
  • Expansion towards Tacoma down south

Bus System

  • From the King County Metro Operational Capacity Growth Report:

    • Increase bus operations
      • New base of operations in South King County (Kent Area) 
    • Increase bus capacity

Priority Bus & Mobility Corridors

  • Seattle Transit Master Plan:

  • Transit Signal Priority
    • Longer green lights for buses 
  • Bus Only Lanes
    • Queue Jump Lanes
    • 5-25% reduced travel times
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Promoting Cycling

  • Designating more bike lanes to go along with bus only lanes
  • Plans to implement in the future
    • Mobility Corridor 
  • Policy plans:
    • MC4.3: push to integrate bike share stations into the network
    • Proposing to remove car parking to accommodate bike lanes
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Responsive Traffic Lights

  • Similar idea/implementation to Traffic Signal Priority (TSP)
  • Concept implemented similarly in various cities around the globe
    • Involves actively analyzing collected data about traffic flow to adjust the timing of the light
  • Network Effects
    • More data available
    • Machine Learning Algorithms
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https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SeattlePlanningCommission/SeattleTransitCommunities/STCFinalLayout.pdf

http://nelsonnygaard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Seattle_TMP.pdf

https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/schedules-maps/maps/seattle/frequent-routes.aspx

https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/st-2024-service.pdf

https://www.kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/transportation/metro/accountability/pdf/2019/metro-facilities-master-plan-operational-capacity-report.pdf

https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/plans/priority-corridor-networks.cfm
https://www.egr.msu.edu/aesc310/topics/09_12%20Smart%20Cities%20and%20Big%20Data.pdf