A space-time shape for easier spatiotemporal visualization in traffic networks

Abstract: Modern big data systems are enabling new possibilities that never were thought possible in the past. The ability to gather massive data on an individual level has made fields like space-time geography bloom in the latest decennia. The usage of shapes in a 3D space allows us to visualize certain phenomena over time. This project seeks to widen the scope of such shapes by considering another way of visualization, specifically for traffic networks. With the use of tools like OTP Analyst and traffic data provided by Skånetrafiken, a new space-time visualization method is constructed. It simplifies the task of visualizing temporal change in accessibility and traffic opportunities from one point and serves as an aid to easily spot problems. Multiple origin points can also be chosen to to aid collective accessibility assessment. The process involves constructing polygons by applying the concave hull algorithm on generated point sets. These are in turn clustered, intersected and plotted. The result is evaluated by professionals within transportation and traffic planning. It is deemed potentially useful in various applications such as trip feasibility and finding gaps in the travel network. However the resulting visualization is also judged to be too simple and lacking interactivity. To further realize the goals of the project, different tools would need to be used along with improvements to the data and method. Still, the result indicates that simple visualizations using space-time constraints could aid planning and execution within transportation and in turn alleviate issues caused by poor accessibility.