Method for Determining the Location of Highway Passenger Transportation Hubs Using POI Data and the Dijkstra Algorithm in Large City

In order to reduce the impact of highway passenger transportation hubs on urban internal traffic operations and improve the efficiency of external travel, a method to determine the location of such hubs based on POI data and the Dijkstra algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the process of connecting the starting point of travel in the city to the urban road node and the highway exit is analyzed. Taking the minimum total time cost as the objective function, the mathematical model of the location method of a highway passenger transportation hub is established. Then, an algorithm for solving the mathematical model is proposed. In the solution method, the concept of “equivalent distance†is introduced into the Dijkstra algorithm to calculate the shortest path for passengers traveling on the urban road network. Weighted random numbers are generated to simulate the choice of highway exits when intercity coaches carrying passengers leave the city. Finally, Zhengzhou City is taken as an example for application analysis. The calculation is carried out using a script written in Python. The calculation results of the proposed method are compared with the results of the P-median model and the current locations of hubs. The results show that the proposed method consumes less time than the P-median method. The total time cost is also lower, which can reduce the time for passengers to leave the city. The location of the highway passenger transportation hub is closer to the periphery of the city and highway nodes, which conforms to the engineering practice and development trend of hub location so as to reduce its impact on urban internal traffic.