Vulnerability assessment of metro systems based on dynamic network structure

Abstract

Invulnerable metro systems are essential for the safety and efficiency of urban transportation services. Therefore, it is of significant interest to systematically assess the vulnerability of metro systems. To this end, in this paper, we assess the vulnerability of metro systems with a data-driven framework in which dynamic travel patterns are considered. Specifically, we use effective attack strategies based on the topology structure of metro networks. The network structure depends on not only connectivity among metro stations but also dynamic passenger flow patterns. Thus, two data-driven metrics, satisfaction rate (SR) and satisfaction rate with path cost (SRPC), are proposed to quantify the vulnerability of metro networks after our attack strategies. Finally, we conduct experiments on Shanghai metro system. The results indicate that the metro system is vulnerable to malicious attacks while it shows strong robustness to random failures. Our results also highlight weak-points and bottlenecks in the system, which may bear practical managerial implications for policymakers to improve the reliability and robustness of the metro systems and the public transportation services.