Essentially, AFAIK, NPRs use the same mechanics to get around as players; jumpgates or ships with jump engines. Some will spam jumpgates, others don't seem to, others are somewhere in between.
What is different, since we're on the subject of AI ship movement, is that the AI doesn't need fuel, be it NPRs or your own civilian shippng lines. Evidently this saves alot of calculations and such.