PLANNING TRANSPORTATION TERMINAL SYSTEMS IN URBAN REGIONS - A MAN-MACHINE INTERACTIVE PROBLEM - SOLVING APPROACH

THE PROBLEM ADDRESSED IS THAT OF LOCATING TRANSPORTATION TERMINALS IN A LARGE URBAN AREA. A MAN- MACHINE INTERACTIVE SYSTEM, CALLED LOCATOR, WAS DEVELOPED AND APPLIED TO A SMALL TEST PROBLEM. THE SYSTEM PERMITS THE ANALYST TO INTUITIVELY SEARCH A LARGE COMBINATORIAL SPACE IN A CONVERSATIONAL MODEL WITH THE COMPUTER. INITIAL EXPLORATORY EXPERIENCE LEADS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TWO COMPUTER-BASED HEURISTIC SEARCH TECHNIQUES. EXPERIMENTS WITH THESE HEURISTIC TECHNIQUES PRODUCE RESULTS THAT SHOW THAT THE HEURISTIC TECHNIQUES ARE QUITE POWERFUL BUT NOT WITHOUT WEAKNESSES. TEN GRADUATE STUDENTS USED THE LOCATOR SYSTEM TO TRY TO INTUITIVELY "FIND" A SATISFACTORY SOLUTION TO THE TEST LOCATION PROBLEM. NINE OF THE TEN WERE SUCCESSFUL AND THREE OF THE TEN FOUND A SOLUTION THAT IS IDENTICAL TO THE BEST KNOWN SOLUTION. POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF THE LOCATOR SYSTEM ARE BRIEFLY DISCUSSED. /AUTHOR/

• Authors:
  • Schneider, J B
  • Symons, J G
  • Goldman, M
• Publication Date: 1972-9

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 257-73
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research /UK/
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Pergamon Press, Incorporated

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer programs; Cybernetics; Heuristic methods; Human machine systems; Information processing; Intermodal terminals; Location; Transportation planning
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226435
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 13 1972 12:00AM