Optimal routing of vehicles with communication capabilities in disasters

Major emergencies and disasters such as acts of terrorism, acts of nature, or human-caused accidents may lead to disruptions in traffic flow. Minimizing the negative effects of such disruptions is critical for a nation’s economy and security. A decision support system that is capable of gathering (real-time) information about the traffic conditions following a disaster and utilizing this information to generate alternative routes for vehicles would benefit the government, industry, and the public. For this purpose, we develop a mathematical programming model to minimize the delay for vehicles with communication capabilities following a disaster. Most commercial trucks and public buses utilize QUALCOMM as a communication tool. We also develop a prediction model for vehicles that do not have any communication capabilities. Although the problem is inherently integer we developed a linear program to reduce the computational burden caused by the large size of the problem. An algorithm is proposed to update the parameters of the linear program based on a duality analysis in order to obtain better results. A monotonic speed–density relationship is embedded in the model to capture high traffic congestion that occurs after a disaster. The model and the algorithm are tested using a simulated disaster scenario. The results indicate that the proposed model improves system performance measures such as mobility and average speed.