A transportation network evolution model based on link prediction

An effective and reliable evolution model can provide strong support for the planning and design of transportation networks. As a network evolution mechanism, link prediction plays an important role in the expansion of transportation networks. Most of the previous algorithms mainly took node degree or common neighbors into account in calculating link probability between two nodes, and the structure characteristics which can enhance global network efficiency are rarely considered. To address these issues, we propose a new evolution mechanism of transportation networks from the aspect of link prediction. Specifically, node degree, distance, path, expected network structure, relevance, population and GDP are comprehensively considered according to the characteristics and requirements of the transportation networks. Numerical experiments are done with China’s high-speed railway network, China’s highway network and China’s inland civil aviation network. We compare receiver operating characteristic curve and network efficiency in different models and explore the degree and hubs of networks generated by the proposed model. The results show that the proposed model has better prediction performance and can effectively optimize the network structure compared with other baseline link prediction methods.