Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: The availability of massive digital traces of human whereabouts has offered a series of novel insights on the quantitative patterns characterizing human mobility. In particular, numerous recent studies have lead to an unexpected consensus: the considerable variability in the characteristic travelled distance of individuals coexists with a high degree of predictability of their future locations. Here we shed light on this surprising coexistence by systematically investigating the impact of recurrent mobility on the characteristic distance travelled by individuals. Using both mobile phone and GPS data, we discover the existence of two distinct classes of individuals: returners and explorers. As existing models of human mobility cannot explain the existence of these two classes, we develop more realistic models able to capture the empirical findings. Finally, we show that returners and explorers play a distinct quantifiable role in spreading phenomena and that a correlation exists between their mobility patterns and social interactions.
Source: Nature Communications
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9166
Institutions: University of Pisa, Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione "Alessandro Faedo", Central European University, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, National Research Council, Northeastern University, University of Bristol, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University
Language: English
Subfield: Transportation
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
OpenAlex ID: W2134946452