HOW STRANDED COMMUTERS IN TOKYO RETURNED HOME AFTER THE GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE —ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION ON TWITTER—

Abstract

 On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, and people found it very difficult to return home. To be prepared for earthquakes in the future, we need to understand the commuting situation and examine the measures undertaken to deal with problems. However, results from the surveys that were previously conducted did not provide sufficient detail to deeply understand the behavior and the situation of commuters returning home. In this study, we analyzed the Twitter tweets that mentioned Roppongi Dori Avenue, Meguro Dori Avenue, and Komazawa Dori Avenue in Tokyo within 24 hours after the earthquake. We found that location information in tweets could be treated as trip data to determine changes in the local traffic volume and traveling speed. By analyzing tweets, we can provide traffic information to commuters after a disaster.