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A DEA-inspired approach to selecting parking areas for dangerous-goods trucks
Abstract
The transport of dangerous goods by trucks requires special conditions for rest areas. By considering the set of existing service areas, the present work develops a procedure for selecting the subgroup of the most suitable service areas for modification in order to provide a service to dangerous-goods transporters. Under multiple criteria, a new DEA-inspired model is developed that uses the main characteristics of the problem under study with the goal of selecting the best locations. Through the application of this model to Spanish territory with the help of Geographical Information Systems, various solutions are suggested. The final decision on the number of areas to be located depends on corresponding authorities, whose main priority is to satisfy economic criteria.
... Such orders include the transportation of valuable loads (e.g. electronic equipment) [14], transportation of dangerous loads [15], and transportation of oversized loads [16], [17]. The VRP for vehicles requiring specific parking conditions is not only relevant from a logistical point of view. ...
... In view of the currently applicable rules and regulations in the European Union, vehicles with hazardous cargo are obliged to stop in places with defined technical specifications ( Fig. 2 (p haz )). Caro-Vela et al. in their work [15], define the methodology for organizing a network of parkings for this type of vehicle in Spain. In the same literature entry, they also highlight the criteria which condition the possibility of a vehicle carrying hazardous cargo to stop at a given location. ...
... if the parking occupancy is acceptable for estimated time of stop t s (16) then 7 if the vehicle can fit in single parking space or can fit in additional parking zone (14) (16). In a situation where it is possible, there will appear procedures to check whether the transported cargo belongs to valuable or hazardous goods (15) and if such a condition occurs, it will check the parking possibilities for v ∈ P. If they are sufficient in the light of the accepted conditions, and if the size of the vehicle does not exceed the size of the available parking space for vehicles not transporting valuable and hazardous cargoes, this space will be defined as a stop on the route and will be assigned to the variable s. Its return will initiate further procedures which constitute Algorithm 1. Failure to meet any of the conditions for Algorithm 2 will result in the analysis of subsequent nodes in the set assigned to the variable x. ...
Based on the analysis of the current literature, mathematical modelling of the studied phe-nomenon was carried out. It was conducted according to the graph theory for vehicles transporting dangerous,oversized, and valuable cargo, moving within a transport network. The mapping of the parking areas includedorganisational, technical, and security aspects. The main algorithm determines the driving routes based onthe parkings that meet the requirements specified by the carrier. These routes can ultimately be analysedand evaluated based on the parameters resulting from the formulated criterion functions. To verify theperformance of the algorithm, its implementation was carried out in a computer environment using the Neo4jgraph database. The transport network, consisting of 462 transport nodes and 602 transport links, was mappedbased on the real national road network of the province in Poland. Data from 113 parking locations in thestudy area were included in the analysis. The research covered a total of three case studies, one for eachvehicle type requiring specific parking conditions, for various input data. The results obtained allowed usto assess the validity of selecting particular routes and evaluating the scalability of the solution. The resultof this work is a method, which, on the one hand, fits the current transportation requirements. On the otherhand, it lends itself to scaling, extension by additional logical constraints, and is compatible with modernparking systems.
... Such orders include the transportation of valuable loads (e.g. electronic equipment) [14], transportation of dangerous loads [15], and transportation of oversized loads [16], [17]. The VRP for vehicles requiring specific parking conditions is not only relevant from a logistical point of view. ...
... In view of the currently applicable rules and regulations in the European Union, vehicles with hazardous cargo are obliged to stop in places with defined technical specifications ( Fig. 2 (p haz )). Caro-Vela et al. in their work [15], define the methodology for organizing a network of parkings for this type of vehicle in Spain. In the same literature entry, they also highlight the criteria which condition the possibility of a vehicle carrying hazardous cargo to stop at a given location. ...
... if the parking occupancy is acceptable for estimated time of stop t s (16) then 7 if the vehicle can fit in single parking space or can fit in additional parking zone (14) (16). In a situation where it is possible, there will appear procedures to check whether the transported cargo belongs to valuable or hazardous goods (15) and if such a condition occurs, it will check the parking possibilities for v ∈ P. If they are sufficient in the light of the accepted conditions, and if the size of the vehicle does not exceed the size of the available parking space for vehicles not transporting valuable and hazardous cargoes, this space will be defined as a stop on the route and will be assigned to the variable s. Its return will initiate further procedures which constitute Algorithm 1. Failure to meet any of the conditions for Algorithm 2 will result in the analysis of subsequent nodes in the set assigned to the variable x. ...
Based on the analysis of the current literature, mathematical modelling of the studied phenomenon was carried out. It was conducted according to the graph theory for vehicles transporting dangerous, oversized, and valuable cargo, moving within a transport network. The mapping of the parking areas included organisational, technical, and security aspects. The main algorithm determines the driving routes based on the parkings that meet the requirements specified by the carrier. These routes can ultimately be analysed and evaluated based on the parameters resulting from the formulated criterion functions. To verify the performance of the algorithm, its implementation was carried out in a computer environment using the Neo4j graph database. The transport network, consisting of 462 transport nodes and 602 transport links, was mapped based on the real national road network of the province in Poland. Data from 113 parking locations in the study area were included in the analysis. The research covered a total of three case studies, one for each vehicle type requiring specific parking conditions, for various input data. The results obtained allowed us to assess the validity of selecting particular routes and evaluating the scalability of the solution. The result of this work is a method, which, on the one hand, fits the current transportation requirements. On the other hand, it lends itself to scaling, extension by additional logical constraints, and is compatible with modern parking systems.
... Woxenius, Arnäs, and Ohnell (2001) call these categories goods requiring special attention, while Arnäs (2007) and Arnäs and Woxenius (2013) denote them heterogeneous goods. The dire consequences of DG accidents have attracted attention from researchers on risk assessment and avoidance focusing on road transport (Bianco et al. 2009, GOOD ROUTE, 2009, Kazantzi, Kazantzis, & Gerogiannis, 2011, truck parking (Caro-Vela, Paralera, & Contreras, 2013), rail (Batarlienė, 2020;Olsson, Larsson, Woxenius, & Bergqvist, 2016) and intermodal road-rail terminals (Santarremigia, Molero, Poveda-Reyes, & Aguilar-Herrando, 2018). Textbooks on logistics and freight transport often contain a chapter at the end addressing DGT, but it often has a rather detached and add-on character, focusing on signage and other practical and legal issues. ...
The consequences of an accident involving a truck or a train are often substantial, but the stakes increase considerably if the vehicle carries dangerous goods that can harm people, other living organisms, the environment, property and cause disturbances in the transport system. It is of great interest to shippers, transport providers and society at large to reduce the risk of such accidents and mitigate any consequences. The purpose is to identify and map the stakeholders of dangerous goods transport by land modes and analyse their interest and the relationships between them in order to increase transport safety. The research is based on a literature review, interviews and workshops and takes a wide approach, including actors commercially involved in transport, and rescue services, policy makers, regulating authorities, municipalities and citizens. Results include a mapping of actors, their influences and relationships in a three-level framework of transport infrastructure, transport network and freight flow and the traffic, transport and logistics service markets connecting them. Not only the traditional transport actors but also societal actors largely influence transport of dangerous goods. The mapping can be useful as a basis for improved information sharing between legitimate stakeholders to push the transport system towards safer transport of dangerous goods.
... To this end, the methodology used in studies of efficiency measurement is applied, which uses a non-parametric method based on mathematical programming, known as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). This analysis has proved useful in a wide variety of contexts and applications (Gémara et al., 2018;Gkiza and Nastis, 2017;Ramírez-Hurtado and Contreras, 2017;Caro-Vela et al., 2013;Balaguer-Coll and Prior, 2009;Sheldon, 2003). The DEA methodology was developed by Farrell (1957), who defined a frontier or reference point of the best practices composed of the most efficient units of the sample in order to obtain efficiency measures for each productive unit. ...
This paper analyses the labour efficiency in Andalusia, and takes into account labour and demographic characteristics of the Andalusian municipalities. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the methodology employed. The results obtained indicate differences at the municipal level that depend on the geographical arrangement, with the provincial capitals being the least efficient. An inverse relationship is established between the size of the municipality (in terms of number of inhabitants) and its labour efficiency: the smaller the size of the municipality, the greater the efficiency. The distance to the capital is also important in establishing the efficiency: the greater the distance to the capital, the greater the efficiency.
... There are numerous applications of DEA to evaluate efficiency within various fields of transport (for a survey, see Markovits-Somogyi, 2011). For instance, DEA is applied to both infrastructures such as airports (e.g., Suzuki, Nijkamp, Rietveld, & Pels, 2010;Curi, Gitto, & Mancuso, 2010;Suzuki, Nijkamp, Pels, & Rietveld, 2014), railways (e.g., Yu & Lin, 2008;Roets & Christiaens, 2015), and seaports (e.g., Panayides et al., 2009;Odeck & Bråthen, 2012); and operators, such as airline companies (e.g., Chiou & Chen, 2006;Michaelides, Belegri-Roboli, Karlaftis, & Marinos, 2009), road transport firms (e.g., Bhagavath, 2006;Caro-Vela, Paralera, & Contreras, 2013;Jarboui, Pascal, & Younes, 2013;Andrejic, Bojovic, & Kilibarda, 2016), and shipping lines (e.g., Gutiérrez, Lozano, & Furió, 2014). The advantage of the DEA is that no assumptions need to be made about the shape of the efficient frontier or the internal operation of each DMU (Bray, Caggiani, & Ottomanelli, 2015), but the results should still be interpreted with caution due to the methodology's sensitivity to outliers and measurement errors (Cooper et al., 2011) The DEA approach is very useful for corporate managers, shareholders, regulators, and policymakers who need quantitative data about the relative performance (Suzuki et al., 2014) in order to create a benchmarking standard. ...
A growing concern exists regarding the efficiency of public resources spent in transport infrastructures. In this paper, we measure the efficiency of seven highway projects in Portugal over the past decade by means of a data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity and efficiency indices. We distinguish between technical and technological efficiency and find that most highways face a reduction over time in both types of efficiency. This reduction is mainly due to an increase in operating and maintenance costs, follow-up investments, and a decline in traffic. Some highways only experience a reduction in technological efficiency after a decrease in traffic. They compensate with cost controls and stable investments. While controlling for scale efficiencies, we find a lack of pure technical efficiency in highways that are not subject to a competitive environment, which produces a lack of incentives for better management. Not only does evidence exist of poor management due to a lack of competition, but the increased use of outsourcing also increases inefficiencies. The introduction of tolls and the outburst of the economic crisis in Portugal have substantially reduced traffic that further contributes to inefficiency. The local context, such as highways in low-income areas and rural regions with a lower traffic density, also affects highway performance.
The transportation of dangerous goods belongs among the risky activities, mostly because it is
not possible ahead precisely to identify the localities which are most susceptible to occurrence
of an accident connected with dangerous substance leakage / release. The issue of assessmentand management of risks associated with dangerous goods transportation belongs among actual
topics of science and research even at European level. This paper compiles the information,
knowledge on current trends in solving the issue dangerous goods transportation safety
ensuring, the assessment of risks associated with it and proposes the ways how to enhance the
current situation in monitoring the ADR vehicles, when transporting the dangerous goods to
get prompt information on their position in any time, to localise it precisely in case on an
accident, as well as to identify the accident most susceptible localities based on commonly used
transportation routes evaluation using the monitoring data.
The rail industry is faced with rising competitive and cost pressures that call for considerable improvements in consistency, operating efficiency, and rail safety. In this article, Turkey's rail safety was evaluated by using a data envelopment analysis model with CRS (CCR), VRS (BCC) analysis in comparison to the EU countries. A section of input‐oriented analyses was performed, and efficiency scores were ranked in two different ways to verify the different rail parameters with the aim of minimizing the number of rail accidents and the number of fatalities in accidents. The study concluded that Turkey is more capable than the EU countries in terms of exploiting its railway indicators.
This paper deals with the problem of locating the minimal number of parking areas being necessary for dangerous goods in the European Road Transport Network. To obtain a near-optimal solution for this problem, we introduce the design of a new graph-based algorithm to locate parking areas in such a way that drivers can obey the regulations related to driving and resting times. This restriction is imposed to the problem as follows: each point in the European Road Transport Network has to be at a distance lower than 200 km from a parking area in the Network.
This paper analyzes the importance of having a network of stations adapted to vehicles carrying dangerous goods. In the first place, it is studied the current demand which is offered by the existing parking areas, and in the second place, it is explained a maximum coverage location model in order to study the location of areas that meet the drivers' demand of rest to a greater extent complying with legal and safety regulations. The model is applied into Spanish territory with the help of geographic information systems (GIS).
In this paper, we report on the application of set covering and maximal covering location models to the problem of locating emergency warning sirens in a midwestern city. Two siren types are available, each having different costs and covering radii. Using a modified version of the set covering location model, we analyze the cost implications of several policy options being considered by the city's planners. Results of the study indicate that location covering models can be powerful and efficient tools in the design of such systems, and their use can lead to significant cost savings. In addition, such models provide decision makers the flexibility to examine the inherent costs associated with various policy options.
There is an urgent need to find solutions for the difficult and hazardous situation caused by the transport of dangerous goods
by road. Secured parking areas are wanted for vehicles carrying these materials to comply with the legal requirements concerning
driving and resting times. In our work, we analyze this need by applying a location model supported with Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) to study the coverage of this type of areas in Spain.
KeywordsMaximal covering location model–Transport of dangerous goods–Geographic information system
Facility placement and associated service coverage are major concerns in urban and regional planning. In this paper an approach is detailed for the problem of covering spatial demand for service, where potential facilities are located in the continuous plane. It is shown that weighted demand, represented as points, lines or polygons, can be optimally served by a finite number of potential facility locations, called the polygon intersection point set (PIPS). The developed approach is an extension of a point‐based abstraction of demand to more general representations (e.g. points, lines or polygons). An empirical analysis of warning siren siting in Ohio is carried out, highlighting the applicability of this approach.
The transportation of hazardous goods by road implies a risk for both humans and the environment, in that an accident involving a vehicle transporting this kind of material may cause extensive material and environmental damage and might even endanger lives. For this reason, both public and private entities (e.g., insurance companies) have a growing interest in studies that assess the risks associated with hazardous goods transportation This article describes a method for calculating these risks. The risk is determined on the basis of a calculation of the probability of the occurrence of an accident and the gravity of the damage, which is in turn a function of the potential damage inherent in the goods being transported taken with the vulnerability of the environmental medium in which the accident takes place. The mathematical model proposed is easily implemented in a geographical information system that will produce risk maps delimiting the more potentially conflictive stretches of roadway.
The assessment of, and planning for, service coverage has been a fundamental aspect of geographic research. In particular, facility placement and associated coverage are central concerns in emergency services, transit route design, cartographic simplification, natural resource management, and weather monitoring, among others. In this article the widely applied set-covering problem is discussed, focusing on its use in geographic analysis. Problematic aspects of set-coverage modeling across space are identified. In particular, geographic information systems (GIS) and enhanced spatial information have accentuated abstraction/spatial representation issues in need of greater consideration in modeling service coverage. To address representational problems with existing approaches, a new set-covering model is introduced for dealing with spatial objects (points, lines, polygons, arcs, curves, etc.). The developed approach accounts for complementary coverage of objects. In doing this, the model decreases modifiable areal unit problem impacts known to be an issue in the geographic application of the set-covering problem. Empirical results are presented to support the usefulness and validity of this new approach.
The representation of demand is a key issue which can significantly affect results in several demand covering models. In this paper we concentrate on the well known Maximal Coverage Location Problem and demonstrate that alternative representations of the demand space may lead to largely fluctuating as well as misleading results which seriously overestimate the real coverage achieved by a specified number of servers. We introduce a new model based on the notion of complementary partial coverage and exploit the capabilities of Geographic Information Systems in order to better represent demand. Results of an empirical study indicate that the proposed model is less susceptible to fluctuations for alternative representations of the demand space and that it provides coverage of a larger proportion of demand than traditional models.
Routing hazardous materials (hazmat) wisely, and designing safer networks for doing so, are powerful means to reduce the potential negative impacts of transporting them. A fundamental requirement of route design and assignment is to assess the potential risk imposed by shipments traversing each link in a network. We consider the risks imposed on human populations by airborne contaminants (such as ammonia and chlorine), modelling their dispersion using a Gaussian Plume model. We model the probability of an undesirable consequence (such as injury, illness, or death) as a function of contaminant concentration. We then apply an expected consequence approach, whereby risk is treated as the product of this probability and the population affected. Map algebra techniques, from Geographic Information Systems (GIS), allow us to combine concentration mathematically with the population distribution to estimate risk, for a release at any point on a network, for all parts of the study area. Map algebra further allows us to apply these risk estimates to every link in the network.
In this paper, a multiobjective model for locating disposal or treatment facilities and transporting hazardous waste along the links of a transportation network are presented. Some of the nodes of this network may be population centres generating hazardous waste which must be transported to the treatment facilities. Four objectives are considered: (1) minimisation of total operating cost, (2) minimisation of total perceived risk, (3) equitable distribution of risk among population centres and (4) equitable distribution of the disutility caused by the operation of the treatment facilities. A goal programming model to solve the problem is developed and a small hypothetical example is presented to illustrate how penalty functions can be used to obtain more satisfactory solutions in real life applications.
Purpose
To provide decision makers (DMs) an option for addressing problems involving finite alternative sets and multiple criteria, where criterion weighting is difficult or impossible.
Design/methodology/approach
The multicriteria decision problem is described, and a typically descriptive (rather than prescriptive) tool, data envelopment analysis (DEA), is summarized, along with a hypothetical but typical example of a multicriteria decision (vendor selection). The DEA approach is modified to incorporate weight constraints and is used to rank the available vendors. Results are compared with those from the use of a popular multicriteria decision tool (SMART) and a naïve averaging approach.
Findings
The modified DEA approach yields results very similar to those produced using SMART; these results are quite satisfactory in spite of the fact that DEA requires less involvement on the part of the DM. In addition, non‐dominant optima (a possible anomaly with DEA) are avoided, and often a single alternative, rather than a non‐dominated set, will result, thus providing a unique optimum.
Research limitations/implications
Results are based on the analysis of a single data set. Future investigation should examine the performance of the DEA approach when other data sets involving more like as well as more unlike alternatives are involved.
Practical implications
With DEA the burden on the DM is reduced, as the need for eliciting criterion weights is obviated. DEA should thus provide an acceptable alternative to prescriptive modeling tools when multiple DMs are involved and/or criterion weight determination is unfeasible.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates how DEA, a tool used more typically in post hoc evaluations, can be used also, with some modifications, as a prescriptive decision support tool.
Several authors have proposed a social choice function based upon distance-consensus between different committee rankings. Under this framework, the total absolute disagreement between committees is minimised. The purpose of this paper is to formulate the underlying optimisation problem as a goal programming (GP) model. To do this, the following three GP formulations are proposed: (a) a linear weighting GP model, where consensus is established by the minimisation of the weighted aggregated disagreement, (b) a MINMAX GP model, where the consensus is defined as the minimisation of the maximum disagreement and (c) an extended GP model, which subsumes the two previous formulations as particular cases.