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Optimal routing of vehicles with communication capabilities in disasters

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Abstract

Major emergencies and disasters such as acts of terrorism, acts of nature, or human-caused accidents may lead to disruptions in traffic flow. Minimizing the negative effects of such disruptions is critical for a nation’s economy and security. A decision support system that is capable of gathering (real-time) information about the traffic conditions following a disaster and utilizing this information to generate alternative routes for vehicles would benefit the government, industry, and the public. For this purpose, we develop a mathematical programming model to minimize the delay for vehicles with communication capabilities following a disaster. Most commercial trucks and public buses utilize QUALCOMM as a communication tool. We also develop a prediction model for vehicles that do not have any communication capabilities. Although the problem is inherently integer we developed a linear program to reduce the computational burden caused by the large size of the problem. An algorithm is proposed to update the parameters of the linear program based on a duality analysis in order to obtain better results. A monotonic speed–density relationship is embedded in the model to capture high traffic congestion that occurs after a disaster. The model and the algorithm are tested using a simulated disaster scenario. The results indicate that the proposed model improves system performance measures such as mobility and average speed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Mississippi State University, PO Box 9542, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA

    Mingzhou Jin & Burak Ekşioğlu

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  1. Mingzhou Jin
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  2. Burak Ekşioğlu
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Correspondence to Burak Ekşioğlu.

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Jin, M., Ekşioğlu, B. Optimal routing of vehicles with communication capabilities in disasters. Comput Manag Sci 7, 121–137 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10287-008-0079-y

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