Vulnerability Analysis of Casablanca Road Network by Capacity Weighted Spectral Analysis

Abstract

The serviceability of a road network often faces challenges of traffic congestion and natural disasters which can damage the performance of many links within the network. To ensure the high performance of a road network, it is essential to identify and protect the critical links which if disrupted will cause substantial damage to the network. This study analyzes the vulnerability of the road network of the city of Casablanca in Morocco. Capacity weighted spectral analysis of the graph Laplacian is used to evaluate the road network vulnerability and identify potential critical links. We consider two cases concerning the weight definition: capacity weighted without considering travel demand and reserve capacity weighted with consideration of travel demand. After finding the critical links of the network, we investigate its vulnerability with consideration of a future tramway project. We compare two cases: the road network with the current tramway lines and that including two additional tramway lines planned for the future. The results show shifts in the critical links between the two cases. Furthermore, an increase in vulnerability is observed after the construction of the new tramway lines if no measures are taken to maintain the corresponding link capacities.