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Engineering and Applied Sciences Optimization pp 17–32Cite as

Characterizing Urban Dynamics Using Large Scale Taxicab Data

Part of the Computational Methods in Applied Sciences book series (COMPUTMETHODS,volume 38)

Abstract

Understanding urban dynamics is of fundamental importance for the efficient operation and sustainable development of large cities. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study on characterizing urban dynamics using the large scale taxi data in New York City. The pick-up and drop-off locations are firstly analyzed separately to reveal the general trip pattern across the city and the existence of unbalanced trips. The inherent similarities among taxi trips are further investigated using the two-step clustering algorithm. It builds up the relationship among detached areas in terms of land use types, travel distances and departure time. Moreover, human mobility pattern are inferred from the taxi trip displacements and is found to follow two stages: an exponential distribution with short trips and a truncated power law distribution for longer trips. The result indicates that the taxi trip may not fully represent human mobility and is heavily affected by trip expenses and the urban form and geography.

Keywords

  • Census Tract
  • Travel Distance
  • Human Mobility
  • Trip Distance
  • Urban Dynamic

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Dr, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Xinwu Qian, Xianyuan Zhan & Satish V. Ukkusuri

Authors
  1. Xinwu Qian
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  2. Xianyuan Zhan
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  3. Satish V. Ukkusuri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satish V. Ukkusuri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Structural Analysis & Seismic Research, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Nikos D. Lagaros

  2. Institute of Structural Analysis & Antiseismic Research, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Manolis Papadrakakis

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Qian, X., Zhan, X., Ukkusuri, S.V. (2015). Characterizing Urban Dynamics Using Large Scale Taxicab Data. In: Lagaros, N., Papadrakakis, M. (eds) Engineering and Applied Sciences Optimization. Computational Methods in Applied Sciences, vol 38. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18320-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18320-6_2

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