Estimating the Topological Structure of Driver Spatial Knowledge

Spatial knowledge has long been recognised as playing an important role in influencing transportation flows in urban areas. The limits imposed by bounded knowledge of space restrict an individual’s decision-making ability, a factor that naturally influences the evolution of collective patterns of behaviour. In this paper, a new methodology for the estimation of the extents of the bounded spatial knowledge of vehicular drivers is outlined, an approach that models the relationship between road transportation activity and human cognition of space. In describing the methodology, the paper begins in outlining a topological representation of urban space that aims to capture the role of salient locations in the construction of spatial knowledge. In the second stage, a spatial interaction model is specified that estimates the relationship between home locations and nearby areas of leisure activity. In the final stage, the models of space and activity are integrated within a framework for spatial learning, enabling the estimation of the growth of spatial knowledge over time. The approach is applied to London, United Kingdom, and the spatial and temporal processes of extension in spatial knowledge are discussed. The paper concludes by outlining the potential for development and application of the model, as well as the natural limitations inherent in this approach.

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