Robustness of the public transport network against attacks on its routes

Abstract

We investigate the robustness of Public Transport Networks (PTNs) when subjected to route attacks, focusing specifically on public bus lines. Such attacks, mirroring real-world scenarios, offer insight into the multifaceted dynamics of cities. Our study delves into the consequences of systematically removing entire routes based on strategies that use centrality measures. We evaluate the network’s robustness by analyzing the sizes of fragmented networks, focusing on the largest components and derived metrics. To assess the efficacy of various attack strategies, we employ them on both a synthetic PTN model and a real-world example, specifically the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area in Argentina. We examine these strategies and contrast them with random, and one-step most and least harmful procedures. Our findings indicate that betweenness-based attacks and the one-step most (maximal) harmful procedure emerge as the most effective attack strategies. Remarkably, the betweenness strategy partitions the network into components of similar sizes, whereas alternative approaches yield one dominant and several minor components.