Optimal Fund-Allocation Analysis for Multidistrict Highway Agencies
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 9, Issue 4
Abstract
Allocation of funds for multidistrict highway agencies has traditionally been decided by the central administration based on predetermined criteria or formulas along with some consultation with regional agencies. In many cases, the consultation process with regional agencies is limited and ineffective. Such consultations are important because different regions tend to have different priorities, and the state of development and situations of their respective road networks are likely different. Applying a common formula and basis for funds allocation may not achieve the best results for all the regions and the entire network as a whole. This paper employs the genetic-algorithm (GA) optimization technique to allocate the total funds available to the district or regional agencies in order to best achieve specified central and regional agencies’ goals subject to operational and resource constraints. The fund allocation problem considers the overall objective of the central agency together with a goal specified by each district or regional agency. The practicality of the solution procedure is demonstrated with a simple pavement maintenance fund allocation problem of a three-region management structure administered by a central highway agency, and with different goals or objectives specified by the central and regional authorities. The performance of the proposed procedure, in terms of network pavement conditions, is compared to that of typical funds allocation approaches. The proposed two-stage GA procedure is shown to outperform typical traditional allocation systems.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Alviti, E., Kulkarni, R. B., Johnson, E. G., Clark, N., Walrafen, V., Nazareth, L., and Stone, J. (1994). “Enhancements to the network optimization system.” Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Managing Pavements, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2, 190–194.
Bakó, A., Gáspár, L., Klafszky, E., and Szántai, T.(1995). “Optimisation techniques for planning highway pavement improvements.” Ann. Operat. Res., 58, 55–66.
Chan, W. T., Fwa, T. F., and Tan, C. Y.(1994). “Road-maintenance planning using genetic algorithms. I: Formulation.” J. Transp. Eng., 120(5), 693–709.
Fwa, T. F., Chan, W. T., and Tan, C. Y.(1994). “Road-maintenance planning using genetic algorithms. II: Analysis.” J. Transp. Eng., 120(5), 710–722.
Fwa, T. F., Chan, W. T., and Hoque, K. Z.(2000). “Multiobjective optimisation for pavement maintenance programming.” J. Transp. Eng., 126(5), 367–374.
Gáspár, L., Jr. (1994). “Compilation of first hungarian network-level pavement management system.” Transp. Res. Rec. No. 1455, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 22–30.
Goldberg, D. E. (1989). Genetic algorithms in search, optimisation and machine learning, Addison–Wesley, Reading, Mass.
Heggie, I. G., and Vickers, P. (1998). “Commercial management and financing of roads.” World Bank Technical Paper No. 409, Washington, D.C.
Holland, J. H. (1975). Adaptation in natural and artificial systems, Univ. of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Husbands, P., and Mill, F. (1991). “Simulated co-evolution as the mechanism for emergent planning and scheduling.” Proc., 4th Int. Conf. on Genetic Algorithms, R. K. Belew and L. B. Booker, eds., Morgan Kauffman, San Mateo, Calif., 264–270.
Pinard, M. (2000). “Managing Maintenance of Provincial and Local Roads.” Proc., Int. Workshop on Road Management and Development of Maintenance Fund, World Bank, Hanoi, Vietnam, 22–28.
Rees, J., and Barkhi, R.(2001). “The problem of highly constrained tasks in group decision support systems.” Eur. J. Oper. Res., 135(1), 220–229.
Setra, J. P. (1986). “The maintenance of district roads in France.” Proc., Seminar on Road Maintenance Management Systems, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, 137–148.
Wang, K. C. P., and Zaniewski, J. (1994). “Global network optimization for pavement management.” Proc., 1st Congress on Computing in Civil Engineering, K. Khozeimeh, ed., 1, 474–482.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 23, 2002
Accepted: Jun 11, 2003
Published online: Nov 14, 2003
Published in print: Dec 2003
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.