Earlier this calendar month I read an interesting article inward the Cartography in addition to Geographic Information Science journal, examining Design Principles for Origin-Destination Flow Maps. In the newspaper the authors advise iii practiced blueprint principles for visualizing origin-destination flows where specific routes betwixt the root in addition to goal are unknown or unimportant.
One of the iii blueprint principles suggested inward the article is that "curved flows are to a greater extent than effective than direct flows". H5N1 practiced representative of this blueprint regulation tin live on seen inward exercise inward Bostongraphy's Hubway Trip Explorer. In this interactive map Bostongraphy has mapped trips taken on Boston's bike part network.
The map allows yous to explore trips taken on the network past times fourth dimension of day, twenty-four hours of the week, calendar month of the year, inward dissimilar weather condition conditions in addition to past times the sex & historic menstruum of the rider. Once yous guide maintain used these options to filter the information the origin-destination flows are therefore visualized on a map of Boston using curved stream lines.
The purpose of these curved lines to exhibit the origin-destination flows on the map seems much to a greater extent than effective than assigning specific routes (for representative past times using the shortest road betwixt the root & destination), The purpose of wider curves for longer distances ensures that the private origin-destination flows tin live on clearly differentiated on the map. If direct job routes betwixt the private bike stations had been used instead of these curved job flows the private origin-destination flows would live on much harder to read on the map. It in all likelihood besides wouldn't guide maintain been equally aesthetically pleasing equally this rather beautiful looking map of the traffic flows betwixt Boston's Hubway stations.
