Using ANP priorities with goal programming in resource allocation in transportation

Transportation Infrastructure (TI) project selection means identifying some alternative projects in order to maximize the net benefit to the organization and allocating resources only among those alternatives, within the given constraints on resources. To select the best set of proposed TI projects in an organization is difficult because there are lots of multiple factors such as project risk, corporate goals, limited availability of firm's TI resources, etc., in the candidate TI projects. The TI project selection problems are Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problems. Prior project selection techniques are useful. However, they have restricted application because they generally depend on the assumption of independence among the candidate projects and criteria. In this paper, we suggest an improved TI project selection methodology which reflects interdependencies among evaluation criteria and candidate projects using analytic network process (ANP) within a zero-one goal programming (ZOGP) model. In order to provide a systematic approach to set priorities among multi-criteria and trade-off among objectives, ANP is suggested to be applied prior to GP formulation. Although goal programming incorporates multiple objectives and arrives at an optimal solution, its major drawback is that the decision maker(s) must specify goals and priorities a priori. In order to overcome this problem, group discussion is needed. In this research, we suggested an integrated approach for interdependent TI project selection problems using Fuzzy Delphi, Analytic Network Process concept and Zero-One Goal Programming. Finally, in project selection, it is very important to consider the interdependent relationship among projects or criteria because of the characteristics of interdependence that exist in real problems. In addition, developing a methodology for considering interdependent factors is a very difficult problem. We introduce a method of solution through a real-world TI empirical example on an ongoing decision-making project in Taichung City, Taiwan using ANP/ZOGP. Using this method we solve problems having multiple criteria, interdependence and resource feasibility. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.