A Transportation Corridor Case Study For Multi-Criteria

Sadasivuni, R., O'Hara C., Nobrega, R. A. A., & Dumas, J. (2009). A Transportation Corridor Case Study For Multi-Criteria. Proceedings of ASPRS 2009 Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD: American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Abstract

Roadway planning can become a contentious process. Delays to projects are frequently due to opposition, conflicting interests and differing opinions from stakeholders, resource agencies, planning organizations and others. Due to the many factors affecting the decision making process, the lack of a unique solution and the plurality of opinions, computational tools may support conflict resolution and decision making. Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) offers a framework wherein differing opinions concerning priorities and values may be utilized in a structured process that considers decision factors, ranks factor criteria, and allocates weights to factors so that results reflect the appropriate priority of each factor considered. This paper addresses a GIS-based decision making framework focusing on environmental and early planning needs in a high impacted transportation corridors. It contains an implementation of MCDA called Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) into a geospatial analysis framework to support geo-spatial decision making in generating and selecting paths for roadway options. In this approach, each decision factor is represented as a thematic geospatial layer with attributes that express criteria being considered. Pair-wise comparisons of criteria give rise to relative ranking of criteria. For each factor, a numerical weight assigning relative priority in the decision process is computed. The weighted factors are then combined resulting in a cumulative cost surface. This cost surface is used to generate a least-cost path between selected locations on the surface. The AHP method was adapted to the selection of alternative alignments for Interstate-269, which bypasses the metropolitan area of Memphis-TN. The results show close similarity to results generated by use of traditional methods, but were generated using automated approaches. The methodology enables transportation alternatives to be generated in an efficient and systematic manner and enables multiple scenarios to be simultaneously considered in the transportation planning process to facilitate decisions. This procedure allows scientists and researchers to provide methods useful to decision makers and stakeholders in a balanced and rational way that helps to avoid conflict.