Service Area Analysis

Feature Description

Service area analysis is mainly used to perform analysis for the service area of the service facilities and provide decision-making information. Generally, service facilities have their own service radius. For example, different types of shopping malls have respective service radii. During network analysis, nodes with resource quantities on the network are abstracted as service stations, and the maximum coverage distance of service stations is abstracted as the service radius. After successful analysis, the service network and service area (polygon) of the service stations will be obtained. Service area analysis can be understood as resource allocation that does not consider the supply and demand of central resources, but only considers the resistance of network edges between suppliers and demanders. This type of analysis is typically used to evaluate the service coverage of public facilities (e.g., post offices, hospitals, supermarkets) at specific locations, thereby providing references for selecting optimal locations. For more details about service area analysis, please refer to the Service Area Analysis Overview page.

Steps

  1. Open the network dataset for network analysis.
  2. In the "Transport Analysis" Tab, check the "Environment Settings" checkbox in the "Route Analysis" group. The "Environment Settings" window will pop up. Set basic network analysis parameters (e.g., weight field, node/edge ID field), analyst result parameters, and tracing analysis parameters (required for facility network analysis) in this window. For details about the environment settings window, see the Network Analysis Environment Settings Window page.
  3. Create a new service area analysis instance. In the "Transport Analysis" Tab, click the Gallery drop-down button in the "Route Analysis" group, then select "Service Area Analysis" from the dropdown. After successful creation, the Instance Manager window will automatically open. For details about this window, refer to the Instance Manager Window page.
  4. Add service stations to the current network layer. Service stations are facilities that provide services. Service area analysis uses these stations as central points. There are two ways to add service stations: manually clicking on the network data layer, or importing point objects from a point dataset. For specific operations, see the Add Site dialog.
    Caution:

    Note: The analyst result is independent of the order of imported service stations. To delete a service station, select the "Service Station" directory node in the Instance Manager window and choose "Remove" from the context menu, or select the station and press the Delete key.

  5. Similarly, barrier points can be added for service area analysis. For barrier point management, refer to the Barrier Management page.
  6. Click the "Parameter Settings" button in the Network Analysis Instance Manager window to open the "Service Area Analysis Settings" dialog for configuring analysis parameters:
    • Service Radius: The service radius of a station. Input values in the list box cells. The unit matches the forward/backward weight field in the network environment window. Different radii can be set for each station, or use the Unified Value Settings to apply a uniform radius to all stations.
    • Analyze from Center Stop: Set the analysis direction. When enabled, services are provided from the center to demand locations (e.g., milk stations delivering to residents). When disabled, demand locations actively obtain services from the center (e.g., students attending schools).
    • Service Stop Mutex: If two or more adjacent service areas overlap, enabling this checkbox will apply mutual exclusion; otherwise, overlapping areas remain unchanged.
    • Generate Route: Determines whether to generate route data during analysis. When checked, both service area polygon data and route results are generated; otherwise, only polygon data is produced.
    • Generate Complex Area: Enables precise generation of service area contours based on routes, improving result accuracy.
    • Result Settings

      Save Node Info: Choose whether to save all node information within the service area coverage. If enabled, nodes are saved as a point dataset in the network dataset's datasource. The NodeID field represents the network node IDs.

      Save Edge Info: Choose whether to save all edge information within the service area coverage. If enabled, edges are saved as a line dataset in the network dataset's datasource. The EdgeID field represents the network edge IDs.

    After parameter settings, click "OK" to exit the dialog.

  7. After completing all parameter settings, click the "Execute" button in the "Route Analysis" group under the "Transport Analysis" Tab, or use the "Execute" button in the Instance Manager window to perform the analysis. Results will display immediately on the map and can be saved as datasets for future use.
Caution:
  • Service stations can be placed on network edges/nodes or within their tolerance range.
  • Service station information can be exported as point datasets for reuse in other network analyses.
  • Barrier points set in the network analysis layer are displayed and managed in the Network Analysis Manager window. For adding barriers, see Barrier Management.

Related Topics

Service Area Analysis Overview