Introducing a new centrality measure from the transportation network analysis in Greece

Abstract

This paper introduces a new centrality measure, nominated by the authors as mobility centrality (C (m) ), which arose during the study of the interregional road network in Greece. The proposed measure is constructed by the use of the anagogic method considering the formula of the kinetic energy of a particle in Physics and adjusting its mathematical analogue to the case of the interregional road network. The new centrality measure is estimated to be useful for the operational analysis of a network (such as the analysis of network flows), since it characterizes as central these vertices that appear to have the greatest tendency to attract or expel network flows. The ability of the proposed centrality measure to illustrate flow tendencies was examined empirically by correlating and regressing mobility centrality to the commuting status of the Greek interregional network and to four of the most common existing centrality measures (betweenness, closeness, straightness and degree centrality) of the available data. The empirical analysis indicated that the proposed centrality measure (C (m) ) presents sufficient ability to describe the status of the Greek interregional commuting system and it is believed that it is able to describe the inner potential that produces flows in a network.