A HEURISTIC SHORTEST-PATH METHOD FOR EMERGENCY VEHICLE ASSIGNMENT--A STUDY ON THE MEXICO CITY NETWORK

The immediate needs of a city struck by a disaster are quick and safe evacuation of its inhabitants and prompt search and rescue operations conducted by emergency personnel. If the city's road network has suffered capacity losses because of floods, building rubble, or structural failures, a shortest-path algorithm with the aid of a computer serves as a useful tool in assigning the emergency vehicles to routes that remain open in the aftermath of the disaster. It the city network is large, the shortest-path algorithms consume large memory and execution time on a microcomputer. If the algorithm needs to operate in real-time conditions, the savings in these factors become very important. Heuristic methods have been developed to reduce the computer storage and execution time. One such heuristic method is being examined for its accuracy compared with conventional shortest-path algorithms, which build the entire shortest-path tree before selecting the path between an origin-destination pair. The suggested heuristic method alleviates the need to build the entire tree, yet proved to yield the same results as the total-path enumeration method in 99 percent of the cases when applied to the Mexico City network.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1988/1168/1168-014.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=A+HEURISTIC+SHORTEST-PATH+METHOD+FOR+EMERGENCY+VEHICLE+ASSIGNMENT--A+STUDY+ON+THE+MEXICO+CITY+NETWORK&author=R.+Sivanandan&author=A.+Hobeika&author=P.+Lockwood&publication_year=1988
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  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309047048
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1168, Driver Performance, Pedestrian Planning, and Bicycle Facilities. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
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• Authors:
  • Sivanandan, R
  • Hobeika, A G
  • Lockwood, P B
• Publication Date: 1988

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 86-91
• Monograph Title: DRIVER PERFORMANCE, PEDESTRIAN PLANNING, AND BICYCLE FACILITIES
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1168
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accuracy; Algorithms; Emergency vehicles; Heuristic methods; Traffic assignment
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00483813
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0-309-04704-8
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: May 31 1989 12:00AM