UNDERSTANDING URBAN TRAFFIC FLOW CHARACTERISTICS FROM THE NETWORK CENTRALITY PERSPECTIVE AT DIFFERENT GRANULARITIES

Abstract. In this study, we analyze urban traffic flow using taxi trajectory data to understand the characteristics of traffic flow from the network centrality perspective at point (intersection), line (road), and area (community) granularities. The entire analysis process comprises three steps. The first step utilizes the taxi trajectory data to evaluate traffic flow at different granularities. Second, the centrality indices are calculated based on research units at different granularities. Third, correlation analysis between the centrality indices and corresponding urban traffic flow is performed. Experimental results indicate that urbaxperimental results indicate that urbaxperimental results indicate that urban traffic flow is relatively influenced by the road network structure. However, urban traffic flow also depends on the research unit size. Traditional centralities and traffic flow exhibit a low correlation at point granularity but exhibit a high correlation at line and area granularities. Furthermore, the conclusions of this study reflect the universality of the modifiable areal unit problem.