01128784

Component

This paper addresses the problem of locating a finite number of facilities to provide a quick response time for disaster relief. The problem is formulated as a non-convex nonlinear mixed-integer program where the authors try to minimize a disutility function based on the distance. To solve the problem, the authors develop a heuristic algorithm based on Voronoi diagrams exploiting the geometry of the problem. The results show that this information can provide close to optimal solutions in a reasonable amount of time. Since the quality of the solution and the running time depends largely on the initial starting points for the heuristic, we also provide specialized techniques to generate the initial starting points. Since global solution is not guaranteed by the standard solvers, we compare out results with a state of the art global optimization solver, BARON. Finally, a real world application of the proposed heuristic is conducted for pre-positioning facilities using data from Hurricane Katrina. The results from the heuristic show that the authors can reduce the response time by as much as 25 percent. The proposed approach has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of distributing critical supplies in disasters.

01120148

09-1869

English

26p

2009

Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures; Maps; References (28) ; Tables (4)

Disaster preparedness; Disasters and emergency operations; Emergency management; Emergency response time; Heuristic methods; Hurricanes; Location; Mixed integer programming; State of the art; Systems analysis

Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Voronoi diagrams

Highways; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Security and Emergencies

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2009 Paper #09-1869

TRIS, TRB

Jan 30 2009 6:08PM