Exploring Spatiotemporal Accessibility of Urban Fire Services Using Real-Time Travel Time
<p>Study area and data in Nanjing, China: (<b>a</b>) the service coverage of fire stations; (<b>b</b>) historical fire incidents in 2015.</p> "> Figure 2
<p>Flowchart of the spatiotemporal pattern of accessibility of fire services in Nanjing, China.</p> "> Figure 3
<p>Spatiotemporal accessibility of fire incidents in Nanjing, China: (<b>a</b>) 05:00–07:00, (<b>b</b>) 07:00–09:00, (<b>c</b>) 09:00–11:00, (<b>d</b>) 11:00–13:00, (<b>e</b>) 13:00–15:00, (<b>f</b>) 15:00–17:00, (<b>g</b>) 17:00–19:00, (<b>h</b>) 19:00–21:00, and (<b>i</b>) 21:00–23:00.</p> "> Figure 4
<p>Change characteristics of fire incidents in 1 day. (<b>a</b>) Proportion of fire incidents and (<b>b</b>) average travel time of fire incidents at different accessibility levels.</p> "> Figure 5
<p>Spatiotemporal pattern of accessibility of fire stations in Nanjing, China.</p> "> Figure 6
<p>Accessibility of fire stations at different times of the day.</p> "> Figure 7
<p>Accessibility decline ratio of fire stations during rush hours.</p> "> Figure 8
<p>The number of firefighters and fire engines at each fire station in Nanjing, China.</p> "> Figure 9
<p>(<b>a</b>) Percent of uncovered fire incidents and (<b>b</b>) average travel time of fire stations in non-rush and rush hours of 1 day.</p> ">
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Materials and Methodology
3.1. Materials
3.2. Background of 2SFCA and FC2SFCA
3.3. Spatiotemporal (ST)-FC2SFCA
- (1)
- Calculate real-time travel impedance between a fire incident and its involved fire station. The real-time travel times between a fire incident as the origin and its involved fire station as the destination should be acquired from an online map API first. Then, the real-time impedance for each time interval is computed using a travel-time decay function.
- (2)
- Compute the supply-to-demand ratio for each fire station. The numbers of fire fighters and fire engines at each fire station are combined to represent the supply capacity of the fire station. The covered fire incidents of a fire station and the dispatched fire engines in each fire incident are used to estimate the demand size of a fire station. With the supply capacity and demand size of a fire station as inputs, the spatiotemporal ratio of the fire station can be computed.
- (3)
- Measure the spatiotemporal accessibility of fire incidents. The spatiotemporal accessibility of each fire incident is measured by the supply-to-demand ratio of its involved fire station and its real-time travel impedance.
- (4)
- Measure the spatiotemporal accessibility of fire stations. The spatiotemporal accessibility of fire incidents covered by each fire station is used to measure the spatiotemporal accessibility of each fire station.
3.3.1. Estimation of Real-Time Travel Impedance
3.3.2. Calculation of Supply-to-Demand Ratio of Fire Stations
3.3.3. Spatiotemporal Accessibility Measurement of Fire Incidents
3.3.4. Spatiotemporal Accessibility Measurement of Fire Stations
4. Results
4.1. Spatiotemporal Accessibility of Fire Incidents
4.2. Spatiotemporal Accessibility of Fire Stations
4.3. Accessibility Decline Ratio of Fire Stations during Rush Hours
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
- (1)
- The overall accessibility of fire incidents and fire stations in Nanjing, China, is uneven, with relatively high accessibility in the southwest and northeast of the city center. Different fire stations require improvement in different resources, such as supply capacity, traffic control, and coverage area adjustment to improve accessibility.
- (2)
- The number of fire incidents with low-level accessibility apparently increases during rush hours in the southeast and north of the city center, and the fire incidents with medium- and high-level accessibility easily change to lower levels due to the influence of traffic congestion. Fire incidents with medium-level accessibility are affected the most. The percent of fire incidents with low-level accessibility during rush hours increases by 10%, whereas fire incidents with medium- and high-level accessibility decrease by about 5%.
- (3)
- The accessibility of fire stations changes over time with an obvious W pattern, where accessibility during rush hours is lower than that at other times, and several fire stations in the city center (e.g., Fuzimiao, Gulou, and Fangjiaying) present an asymmetric W pattern. The accessibilities of fire stations in the whole of Nanjing, city center, and suburbs are 13.41%, 15.97%, and 11.15% lower than those at other times, respectively.
- (4)
- The accessibility decline ratios of fire stations in rush hours are 15.97% and 11.15% in the city center and suburbs, respectively, and there are 12 fire stations in the city center and five fire stations in urban suburbs with an accessibility decline ratio over 14%. The decline ratios are strongly related to the travel time increase and the percent increase in uncovered fire incidents during rush hours, especially for fire stations with a greater decline ratio.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Chen, Y.; Li, Y.; Wu, G.; Zhang, F.; Zhu, K.; Xia, Z.; Chen, Y. Exploring Spatiotemporal Accessibility of Urban Fire Services Using Real-Time Travel Time. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 4200. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084200
Chen Y, Li Y, Wu G, Zhang F, Zhu K, Xia Z, Chen Y. Exploring Spatiotemporal Accessibility of Urban Fire Services Using Real-Time Travel Time. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(8):4200. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084200
Chicago/Turabian StyleChen, Yuehong, Yuyu Li, Guohao Wu, Fengyan Zhang, Kaixin Zhu, Zelong Xia, and Yu Chen. 2021. "Exploring Spatiotemporal Accessibility of Urban Fire Services Using Real-Time Travel Time" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 8: 4200. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084200
APA StyleChen, Y., Li, Y., Wu, G., Zhang, F., Zhu, K., Xia, Z., & Chen, Y. (2021). Exploring Spatiotemporal Accessibility of Urban Fire Services Using Real-Time Travel Time. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(8), 4200. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084200