Ratio Between Real And Linear Distances: Estimation of Wiggle Factor of Road Network in Pakistan

Abstract

In this research we have calculated the wiggle factor (WF) of Pakistani roads with the help of new features introduced by Google-map, i.e., Straight-line method, which is going to help the other researcher to find out the wiggle factor for their region effortlessly. With the help of this paper the calculated wiggle factor of Pakistani roads will help the logistic managers and transporters to find out the transportation and logistics expenses. This paper is explanatory research and the technique we used in this research for the collection of samples is stratified sampling technique. There are two variables one is straight-line which is independent variable, and the other one variable is road line which is dependent variable. We have collected the distances between eleven major cities of Pakistan for both straight-line and road line variables. Multiple Linear Regression has been used for the analysis of data by the researcher, because we have two variables, to measure the relationship between these two variables Multiple Linear Regression is best statistic tool. In this paper the wiggle of Pakistani roads, calculated by the researcher, is 1.432 which is higher than the traditionally used wiggle factor 1.2 which was calculated by Cooper in 1983. The wiggle factor cannot remain constant; however, it will change after decades because of significant changes occur in the roads network. Therefore, the researchers need to calculate the wiggle factor for their geographic region to find out the near to accurate value of WF for their region.