Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Crossover from exponential to power-law scaling for human mobility pattern in urban, suburban and rural areas

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
The European Physical Journal B Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Empirical analysis on human mobility has caught extensive attentions due to the accumulated human dynamical data and the advance of data mining technique. But the results of related research still have to further investigate on some issues such as spatial scale. In this paper, we explore human mobility in greater Kaohsiung area by using long-term taxicabs’ GPS data. The trip distance in our dataset exhibits exponential decay for short trips and power-law scaling for long trips. We propose an approach to investigate the possible mechanism of the power-law tail. Moreover, we utilize the method of simulation and random relinking trip path to explain the empirical observation. Our results show that the origin of power-law movement distribution may be largely due to the power-law population distribution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. W.-S. Jung, F. Wang, H.E. Stanley, Europhys. Lett. 81, 48005 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. S. Goh, K. Lee, J.S. Park, M.Y. Choi, Phys. Rev. E 86, 026102 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. H.D. Rozenfeld, D. Rybski, J.S. Andrade, M. Batty, H.E. Stanley, H.A. Makse, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 18702 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Y. Zheng, Y. Liu, J. Yuan, X. Xie, in Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, UbiComp’11, 2011, p. 89

  5. C. Viboud et al., Science 312, 447 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. L. Hufnagel, D. Brockmann, T. Geisel, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101, 15124 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. E. Agliari, R. Burioni, D. Cassi, IMA J. Manag. Math. 21, 67 (2010)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. A.-L. Barabasi, Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do (Dutton Books, New York, 2010)

  9. D. Brockmann, L. Hufnagel, T. Geisel, Nature 439, 462 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. M. Gonzalez, C. Hidalgo, A.-L. Barabasi, Nature 453, 779 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. B. Jiang, J. Yin, S. Zhao, Phys. Rev. E 80, 021136 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. C. Song, T. Koren, P. Wang, A.-L. Barabasi, Nat. Phys. 6, 818 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. X. Han, Q. Hao, B. Wang, Z. Tao, Phys. Rev. E 83, 036117 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. M. Veloso, S. Phithakkitnukoon, C. Bento, N. Fonseca, P. Olivier, in First Workshop on Pervasive Urban Applications, 2011

  15. X. Liang, X. Zheng, W. Lv, T. Zhu, K. Xu, Physica A 391, 2135 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. C. Peng, X. Jin, K.-C. Wong, M. Shi, P. Lio, PLoS One 7, e34487 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. A. Bazzani, B. Giorgini, S. Rambaldi, R. Gallotti, L. Giovannini, J. Stat. Mech. 2010, P05001 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. C. Roth, S.M. Kang, M. Batty, M. Barthelemy, PLoS One 6, e15923 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. C. Kang, X. Ma, D. Tong, Y. Liu, Physica A 391, 1702 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. A. Noulas, S. Scellato, R. Lambiotte, M. Pontil, C. Mascolo, PLoS One 7, e37027 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. X. Liang, J. Zhao, L. Dong, K. Xu, Sci. Rep. 3, 2983 (2013)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. M. Barthlem, Phys. Rep. 499, 1 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. F. Simini, M.C. Gonzalez, A. Maritan, A.-L. Barabasi, Nature 484, 96 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. C. Kang, S. Sobolevsky, Y. Liu, C. Ratti, in The 2nd International Workshop on Urban Computing, UrbComp’13, 2013

  25. J.B. Parr, Urban Stud. 22, 289 (1985)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, National Kaohsiung Normal University, 82446, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Hsing Liu, Ying-Hsing Chen & Jiann-Shing Lih

Authors
  1. Hsing Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ying-Hsing Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jiann-Shing Lih
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiann-Shing Lih.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, H., Chen, YH. & Lih, JS. Crossover from exponential to power-law scaling for human mobility pattern in urban, suburban and rural areas. Eur. Phys. J. B 88, 117 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2015-60232-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2015-60232-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation