Xie, FengLevinson, David M2016-05-022016-05-022008Xie, Feng and David Levinson (2008) The Weakest Link: A Model of the Decline of Surface Transportation Networks. Transportation Research part E 44 100-113.https://hdl.handle.net/11299/179972This study explores the economic mechanisms behind the decline of a surface transportation network, based on the assumption that the decline phase is a spontaneous process driven by decentralized decisions of individual travelers and privatized links. A simulation model is developed with a degeneration process by which the weakest link is removed iteratively from the network. Experiments reveal how the economic efficiency of a network evolves during the degeneration process and suggest an 'optimal' degenerated network could be derived during the decline phase in terms of maximizing total social welfare.endecline, transportation network, degeneration, welfare, accessibilityArticlehttp://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.tre.2006.09.001