Centrality for Modeling Greedy Algorithms of Road Maintenance

The authors focus on the maintenance of transportation systems. Its dependability is fundamental to the well-being, health and comfort of citizens. The model described in this article imitates two processes simultaneously: road deterioration and road maintenance. The main assumption is that the destruction of roads depends on the betweenness centrality of the city’s graph. The basis for road repair in the model are the assumptions that there is near-perfect real-time monitoring of the extent of destruction and that only nearly destroyed roads are repaired. Several intuitive assumptions are made about the importance of certain roads in different city structures. The results of the developed greedy algorithm and its modifications o n r eal city graphs are presented and described. The chosen cities illustrate several possible characteristics of the urban topology. The similarities and differences between the work of the algorithm on different graphs are outlined, unusual tendencies are noted. A domino-like interaction between the elements of the system, once the algorithm is working, is observed. This work also helps to study and predict the reasoning of the citizens. It is possible that they anticipate improvements in their quality of life as a result of maintenance activities. However, a naive algorithm could cause annoyance, and it can be predicted to what extent, if we work under the assumption that the more time people spend in traffic, the more annoyed they are.