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Spoke–hub distribution paradigm

The spoke–hub distribution paradigm is a form of transport topology optimization in which traffic planners organize routes as a series of "spokes" that connect outlying points to a central "hub". Simple forms of this distribution/connection model contrast with point-to-point transit systems, in which each point has a direct route to every other point, and which modeled the principal method of transporting passengers and freight until the 1970s. Delta Air Lines pioneered the spoke–hub distribution model in 1955,[1] and the concept revolutionized the transportation logistics industry after Federal Express demonstrated its value in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s the telecommunications and information technology sector subsequently adopted this distribution topology, dubbing it the star network network topology.

"Hubbing" involves "the arrangement of a transportation network as a hub-and-spoke model".[2]

Drawbacks[edit]

In addition, the hub constitutes a bottleneck or single point of failure in the network. The total cargo capacity of the network is limited by the hub's capacity. Delays at the hub (such as from bad weather conditions) can result in delays throughout the network. Cargo must pass through the hub before reaching its destination and so require longer journeys than direct point-to-point trips. That may be desirable for freight, which can benefit from sorting and consolidating operations at the hub, but it is problematic for time-critical cargo, as well as for passengers. The necessity of baggage transfers at the hub also increases the risk of missing luggage, as compared to the point-to-point model.

in which feeder ships transport shipping containers from different ports to a central container terminal to be loaded onto larger vessels.

Sea transport

: most UPS Airlines flights travel through its Worldport at Louisville International Airport, and many FedEx Express parcels are processed at its "SuperHub" at Memphis International Airport.

Cargo airlines

in which cargo is hauled to a central exchange terminal. At the terminal, shipping containers are loaded from one freight car to another, and classification yards (marshalling yards) are used to sort freight cars into trains and divide them according to varying destinations. Intermodal freight is often loaded from one mode to another at central hubs.

Freight rail transport

uses various transport hubs to allow passengers to transfer between different lines or transportation modes. Often those hubs are intermodal linking buses, trams, local trains, subways and so on.

Public transit

The spoke–hub model is applicable to other forms of transportation as well:


For passenger road transport, the spoke–hub model does not apply because drivers generally take the shortest or fastest route between two points. However, the road network as a whole likewise contains higher order roads like limited access highways and more local roads with most trips starting and ending at the latter but spending most of the distance on the former.

Industrial distribution[edit]

The hub-and-spoke model has also been used in economic geography theory to classify a particular type of industrial district. Economic geographer Ann Markusen theorized about industrial districts, with a number of key industrial firms and facilities acting as a hub, with associated businesses and suppliers benefiting from their presence and arranged around them like the spokes of a wheel. The chief characteristic of such hub-and-spoke industrial districts is the importance of one or more large companies, usually in one industrial sector, surrounded by smaller, associated businesses. Examples of cities with such districts include Seattle (where Boeing was founded), Silicon Valley (a high tech hub), and Toyota City, with Toyota.

Hub and spokes architecture

Hubs and nodes

(traffic circle)

Roundabout

for an example of international coordination through a third country.

Foreign policy of the United States

Ville Radieuse

Highway dimension

Badcock, B. A., 2002, Making Sense of Cities: A Geographical Survey, London: Arnold, pp. 63–94.

Lawrence, H., 2004, "Aviation and the Role of Government", London: Kendall Hunt, pp. 227–230.

Markusen, A (1996). "Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts". Economic Geography. 72 (3): 293–313. :10.2307/144402. JSTOR 144402.

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