The Braess Paradox is Back and in New Scientist

This week I received a message from none other than Professor Dietrich Braess after whom the (in)famous paradox is named -- wherein adding a route to a transportation network can make the commute for all travelers longer! (Or, removing a road can get you to work faster!)

I am a big fan of Professor Braess' work and his paradox paper, which was written in German and published in 1968. I not only wrote about it in my doctoral dissertation, but have enjoyed building upon it  since.

Plus, I had the distinct honor, along with my doctoral students and the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, of hosting Professor Braess' first visit to the U.S., back in April 2006, to speak specifically on his paradox.  In addition, we were celebrating the translation of his paper from German to English, which Braess and I did, along with my doctoral student from Austria, Tina Wakolbinger, who is now a Full Professor in Vienna. The translation was published in the INFORMS journal, Transportation Science, along with a preface, written by Professor David E. Boyce and me. 


The photos of Braess below were taken at the Isenberg School and at the University Club.

 

The photo immediately above was taken in my Supernetworks Lab at the Isenberg School. Professor Braess, Tina, and I are holding our translation in Transportation Science. Additional photos as well as a link to Professor Braess' presentation can be found on this page.

Professor Braess wrote me that New Scientist was writing a story on the paradox, which has just appeared and is by Justin Mullins. It is entitled: "42nd St paradox: Cull the best to make things better" and a preview is here.  I managed to access a copy, although the official publication date is not until January 18, 2014.  The article also notes Skinner's work vis a vis basketball and the Braess paradox, which I spoke about in the PBS America Revealed segment Gridlock (a great experience to be interviewed by the winner of Survivor in 2006, Yul Kwon!) and have written about on this blog.  New Scientist also mentioned Professor Adilson Motter of Northwestern University, who led the recent Network Frontiers Workshop in December that I spoke at on Envisioning a Future Internet.Architecture.

Motter is quoted in  the New Scientist article on his ecology work (networks are everywhere!):  In certain circumstances,  the early removal of a species that would otherwise eventually go extinct anyway can prevent all secondary extinctions and improve the entire system's viability. That's an analogue of Braess's paradox, says Motter. 

The New Scientist article also talks about Professor Dirk Witthaut's work on the electric grid and concludes:  It is very early days in our understanding of biological networks. But if Motter, Witthaut and others have their way, counter-intuitive network effects may have a much more significant role to play in future. It may even be the key that helps the Knicks to another NBA play-off, and perhaps even reunites them with the championship trophy that has long eluded them.

And speaking of the Braess paradox, I have posted below a link to the video captured at the great UMASS Amherst TEDx event at which I spoke on The Traffic Circle of Life and, of course, the Braess paradox!


Anna Nagurney from TEDxUMassAmherst on Vimeo.

The lecture slides can be downloaded here.

Electricity and Energy on America Revealed Tonight

Tonight's episode on the excellent PBS TV series America Revealed is, Electric Nation, and it will be broadcast ET at 10 PM.

I will be watching.

According to the description of tonight's episode:

Our modern electric power grid has been called the biggest and most complex machine in the world – delivering electricity over 200,000 miles of high tension transmission lines.  But even though the grid touches almost every aspect of our lives, it’s a system we know very little about.

My research group has done research on electric power network systems and also on network vulnerability from transportation systems to supply chains.


Episode 1 was on food and episode 2 was on transportation.

Next week it will be on manufacturing.


I wrote up  some of the  highlights of the transportation segment.

Transportation Network Systems -- Their Glory and Vulnerability Revealed

Last night's episode of America Revealed, Nation on the Move,  was on our nation's transportation systems.

As a researcher and educator, whose passion has always been networks (and especially transportation and logistics), I knew that this was another PBS TV production that I could not miss.

I am also a bit biased, since its host, Yul Kwon, interviewed me in NYC for a video segment on the Braess paradox and gridlock, and the interview is now part of the production's extensive website for education purposes.

The segment last night highlighted both private and public transportation and included beautifully filmed segments on school busses, subways, airplanes, and even freight. The graphics were fantastic -- demonstrating dynamically the flows of various transportation modes on the networks.

Yul began by saying how he is fascinated by networks and systems and then reported on transportation from airplanes, a traffic reporter's helicopter, and even a school bus in Arizona.

I have always loved transportation and my readers know that I got my driver's license (yes, I passed my driver's test in Northampton, MA) only after becoming a Full Professor and a mother. But, then again,  growing up in Yonkers, I would walk to public transportation, and ride busses and subways in NYC. As a student at Brown University, and a member of the women's cross country and track teams, I could get to where I needed to by foot (or with friends would take the bus into Boston and ride Amtrak home for holidays). As a faculty member, many of the most interesting places required air travel, and I continue to love flying and collecting conversations and experiences throughout the journeys and my explorations at various destinations. Luckily, now I get invited to speak and usually someone else pays the tab (thank you).

I very much enjoyed the freight segment last night, with a focus on Chicago, where Amtrak, commuter trains, and freight trains all have to share the same tracks. I have written about the freight capacity crisis and competition for scarce resources and the U.S. for years has not been devoting the attention and financial resources that our critical infrastructure (especially transportation) needs. America Revealed also captured some of the history of transportation construction in the U.S. with poor decisions made, which now are being undone at much greater costs.


My students get it and repeatedly ask me why can't the U.S. have transportation systems with trains and busses similar to parts of Europe?!

America on the Move -- Transportation Episode on America Revealed Tonight

Having enjoyed the first episode of America Revealed last week, which was on food, I am looking forward to tonight's segment, "America on the Move," which will focus on transportation systems.


More information about tonight's show, with video clips, can be found here.

Last week, I was interviewed on this production for the PBS affiliate WGBY 57 TV show, Connecting Point.

You can view my interview in NYC with Yul Kwon, the host of America Revealed. In that interview I spoke on the Braess paradox and gridlock.

Nice to see network systems getting so much attention and generating so much interest!

Braess Paradox, and How It Is Impacting Our World

My Connecting Point interview with host Carrie Saldo is now online.

Thanks to PBS affiliate WGBY 57 for giving me the opportunity to discuss the Braess Paradox, and How It Is Impacting Our World.

In the segment, I also speak about the Virtual Center for Supernetworks, the Isenberg School of Management,  and my new course Humanitarian Logistics and Healthcare.

It is fascinating to see how networks and paradoxes are now captivating the media and the public.

Thanks also to the producers of America Revealed for letting me be part of the Transportation segment.

Excellent America Revealed Episode on Food

Needless to say, I have been eagerly awaiting the PBS four part series, America Revealed.

The first episode aired last evening, and it was on food.

The host, Yul Kwon, began by introducing the series and episodes and he noted the importance of networks, which was great!

Indeed, through last night's episode to next week's, which will be on transportation, followed, on subsequent Wednesdays, by episodes on energy and manufacturing, we will be educated and entertained in a spectacular way.

PBS has even set up webpages for Teachers, which is fantastic and you can view my interview with Yul on the Braess paradox there.

The aerial photography and filming are amazing as is Yul's courage (he parachutes out of planes and flies in planes that I would not be brave enough to do so) but, then again, Yul, is the winner of the 2006 Survivor. He may have a fear of heights but when the job needs to be done, he does it.

Given that   the most recent paper that we wrote was on food supply chains, I was completely captivated last night. The images of the tomatoes and cattle will stay with me for a long time.

Congrats to the urban farmers who are greening Detroit as well as to those who, for generations, have continued to feed Americans and beyond.

America Revealed Airs Tonight -- First Episode on Food

I am very much looking forward to the PBS series America Revealed, which is a four part series uncovering the hidden patterns of economic activities that underpin the US -- from food (tonight's segment at 10PM ET) to transportation (next week), and energy, and manufacturing on subsequent Wednesday nights.

Supernetworks have arrived!


The series should be fascinating and I was honored to be videotaped with the host and star of the series, Yul Kwon, on Broadway in NYC for a transportation videoclip on the Braess paradox and gridlock.

I was interviewed by Carrie Saldo, the host of the PBS show, Connecting Point, about my experiences with America Revealed and the segment will are tonight on WGBY 57 at 7:30 ET.  It is called Braess Paradox, and How It Impacts Our World.

On Connecting Point TV Program this Wednesday

 I very much enjoyed being interviewed by Carrie Saldo for her evening TV program Connecting Point.

A teaser for the segment is here.

The segment in which I discuss transportation, the Braess paradox, and supply chains with her will air this Wednesday at 7:30PM as a leadin for the first episode of the PBS production America Revealed, 
for which I was interviewed by the host Yul Kwon for the educational videoclip on transportation.

It's great to see network research getting a lot of visibility!

Photos from Tutorials from Dynamic Network Analysis to Crowd Sourcing and Public Health

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of introducing the outstanding tutorial presenters at the Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction Conference (SBP 2012) at the University of Maryland College Park.

The tutorials were given by Dr. Kathleen Carley (Dynamic Network Analysis), by Dr. Hyam Hirsh (Crowdsourcing, Human Computation, and Collective Intelligence) and by Dr. Patty Mabry and Dr. Nate Osgood (Public Health Concepts: An Introduction to Modelers).

The audience learned so much from these truly informative tutorials and, as the tutorial chair, I would like to thank the tutorial presenters for the breadth and depth of fascinating information that they delivered yesterday. I am hoping that we can post the slides from the tutorials on the conference website and will let you know if/when this is done.

The day flew by much too soon, and all those in the audience were treated to an intellectual feast on some of the most timely research topics today.

Above are some photos taken yesterday at the SBP 2012 conference.

I had to return early, since I was committed to doing a TV interview today for a PBS Channel and the program Connecting Point.

I will let you know when the interview airs. It was motivated by the upcoming PBS production America Revealed, for which I was interviewed by Yul Kwon, for an educational segment on transportation and the Braess paradox.

The Ides of March, Transportation and Logistics, and the Braess Paradox

March 15 is the Ides of March and one year ago I was filmed on Broadway in New York City about traffic congestion, gridlock, and the Braess paradox, as part of the PBS series America Revealed.

Today, I am sitting in my office at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, where I am for 2 weeks as part of their innovative Visiting Professors Program. Gothenburg has a fabulous transportation system with blue and pale yellow trams snaking throughout, along with busses, as well as numerous bicyclists and pedestrians, along with a major port. Hence, transportation and logistics in both research and practice are very valued here.

I am enjoying my interactions with outstanding faculty, students, and postdocs in Sweden very much. It certainly helps that one of the groups that is hosting me has received a major grant from the Swedish government to research Sustainable Transportation. I am also learning about maritime transportation, a topic that I don't get much opportunity to experience back in Amherst, Massachusetts. With the deepening of the Panama Canal, maritime transportation will be a timely topic, back in the US as well. The Swedes have been leaders in intermodal transportation for many years as well as in maritime transportation.

Coincidentally, yesterday, I received a wonderful message from one of the producers at LionTV in London, who was involved in the special America Revealed production, that I appear in, and the message said:

Hi Anna,

Hope you have been keeping well. Just to let you know the website went live a couple of weeks ago, but we didn't announce it as there were still a few tweaks to do, but it's all looking pretty ship shape now, so I thought I'd let you know about it!

Many thanks for all your hard work.

Analytics magazine has a nice writeup on the videoclip that I was filmed for last year on Broadway as does one of the UMass publications In the Loop . In the clip I even note Caesar, which is appropriate on this day, the Ides of March.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about the Braess paradox (how the addition of a road may make everyone worse off in terms of travel time), you may view the lecture that I gave here yesterday. It was on supply chains but I emphasized the importance of capturing decision-making behavior, whether centralized or decentralized, and did highlight the Braess paradox as well as what happens when demand varies over time.

Great Red Chair Interview with Yul Kwon on CNN and an INFORMS Connection

I have this uncanny ability to be thinking of someone and then they appear (or at least contact me).

In speaking on the Newsmakers panel at the 2011 INFORMS Charlotte conference this past Monday, which was organized by Barry List, in my presentation I included a photo of being interviewed by Yul Kwon on Broadway last March for the PBS production America Revealed, which should be airing this winter. Yul was the winner of the TV show Survivor (Cook Islands) and is a Stanford and Yale Law school grad. He gave up working as a lawyer (and at the FCC to which he was appointed by Obama) to work on TV.

I got back from the INFORMS conference only to find that Yul was a subject of a CNN Red Chair Interview, with an accompanying article, which mentioned America Revealed in the first line.

The interview is special and emphasizes Yul's Korean American roots, his struggles to fit, and how he is reaching out to others.

I enjoyed talking to him for over 3 hours on that cold March 15, 2011 day and having the experience of being filmed by a great LionTV crew. The conversation focused on the Braess paradox, the closure of Broadway between 47th Street and 42nd Street to vehicular traffic, and basketball.

Yul is not only really smart but he is also really nice and is a great interviewer, as well!

My slide presentation on the Newsmakers panel can be downloaded, in pdf format, here.