Performance of transportation network under disruptions: From vulnerability to resilience

Abstract

The urban transportation network is an essential component to the robust operation of cities. Nevertheless, transportation infrastructures are exposed to risk from various disruptions, from both natural disasters (e.g. floods, earthquake) and from human malevolence such as acts of sabotage or terrorism. These lead to not only direct reconstruction or rehabilitation costs of the damaged infrastructures but also enormous socio-economic impacts incurred due to the inadequate level of service being provided by the transportation network. In order to implement suitable policies to attain various goals, there is a need for an overall characterization of road networks, to gain insight into their propensity to “malfunction” and the extent of the resulting consequences. This presentation will take vulnerability as a starting point, to consider following questions in the planning and operation of road transportation systems: (1) what concepts can be used to measure transportation network performance under disruptions; (2) how to quantify such concepts in practice such as appraisal and optimization of network infrastructure; and (3) how the understanding of vulnerability can help build resilience?