Dikas, G. and Minis, I.

Computers and Operations Research, vol. 70, 2016, pp 75-86.

Abstract

In this paper we address the problem of transporting passengers from their origins to multiple gathering centers. We consider two interesting and related cases of this transportation problem: (a) the case of evacuation in anticipation of major natural threats, and (b) the case of transporting casualties after an emergency or terrorist incident, or from a battlefield. Both problem cases share common characteristics and restrictions, i.e. limited available vehicles and limited capacity of the collection/gathering centers, but differ in terms of objectives and the scale of demand. To address the evacuation problem and its variants we have proposed two-index, mixed integer, linear formulations, and we have developed a Hybrid Solution Framework. Extensive experimental results indicate that for both cases the proposed framework provides efficient solutions in reasonable computational times.