The fuzziness of travel-to-work areas

Abstract

Travel-to-Work Areas (TTWAs) have been used widely by governmental agencies and academic institutions in the UK. However, the mutually exclusive areas have been questioned because the boundaries separating TTWAs are not significant as claimed and there are always some commuting trips crossing the boundaries. This paper aims to investigate the fuzziness of TTWAs by applying fuzzy set theory. The methodology of defining fuzzy Travel-to-Work Areas is described. Indicators measuring size and overlap of fuzzy TTWAs are suggested. The cartographic representation of fuzzy TTWAs is discussed. In the last section, the advantages of fuzzy TTWAs and some potential applications are proposed.