Commuting Scales. Dynamic Mapping of Time Accessibility

Visualization tools can facilitate access to complex spatial phenomenon. This access is what the application to be presented aims at. As a case study to such a complex phenomenon, the addressed question is that of the commuters' space of the Swiss federal institute of technologies (EPFL). Dealing with traveling times and mobility choices over a week day, the application aims at defining which is the scale of this space: the space that the many users of EPFL cover every day. To reach this purpose, two main cartographic metrics are used : that of the euclidean space and that of the time space. The multiplication of different ways of visualizing the same set of data intends to show the complexity of this phenomenon that can be summarized in ''commuters' space'' but that is actually very complex, as the maps and dynamic visualizations produced attempt to depict. By changing the content of the cartographic analogy, they aim at giving to the map its inherent heuristic power, which consists in making readable a complex space, and giving a space to look at, in order to understand the role of topologic transportation systems, the role of distance and the motivations of users. The importance of choosing the right data, the difficulty to access them, the right choice of used technologies are questions that will also be tackled.