Routing for Relief Efforts

Abstract

In the aftermath of a large disaster, the routing of vehicles carrying critical supplies can greatly impact the arrival times to those in need. Since it is critical that the deliveries are both fast and fair to those being served, it is not clear that the classic cost-minimizing routing problems properly reflect the priorities relevant in disaster relief. In this paper, we take the first steps in developing new methodologies for these problems. We focus specifically on two alternative objective functions for the TSP and VRP: one that minimizes the maximum arrival time (minmax) and one that minimizes the average arrival time (minavg). To demonstrate the potential impact of using these new objective functions, we bound the worst case performance of optimal TSP solutions with respect to these new variants and extend these bounds to include multiple vehicles and vehicle capacity. Similarly, we examine the potential increase in routing costs that result from using these alternate objectives. We present solution approaches for these two variants of the TSP and VRP which are based on well known insertion and local search techniques. These are used in a series of computational experiments to help identify the types of instances where TSP and VRP solutions can be significantly different from optimal minmax and minavg solutions.

Relief distribution networks: a systematic review

“…The most popular objective regarding these problems is the rapidity objective, usually defined through a minimum travel time objective or a minimum latest arrival time. Campbell et al (2008) were among of the first to explore the major difference between relief and commercial distribution by proposing three different objectives for a fast delivery. Chen et al (2011) defined a distribution problem integrated in a DSS with the support of a Geographic Information System (GIS).…”

Inequity averse optimization in operational research

“…Equity of service to demand nodes is defined in various ways. For example, if all the demand is satisfied when a node is visited then the arrival time is used to measure service (Campbell et al, 2008). Perugia et al (2011) develop a multiobjective location-routing model, to model a home-to-work bus service, and try to achieve an equitable extra time distribution across customers.…”

Sequential Resource Allocation for Nonprofit Operations

“…This work considers the tradeoff between effectiveness and equity as applied to the allocation of books to libraries. Campbell et al (2008) explore two objective functions for the local distribution of supplies in a relief effort. To minimize disparity in response times to recipients, the authors consider the objectives of minimizing the arrival of supplies to the last recipient and minimizing the average arrival of supplies.…”