NCJ Number
113486
Date Published
1988
Length
50 pages
Annotation
This document outlines an interactive, multiobjective, personal computer-oriented procedure to reposition facilities and sectorize a district in a spatially distributed queueing system, using the hypercube model (Larson, 1924) as a supporting subsystem.
Abstract
The procedure is heuristic and is intended for use in strategic or tactical planning such as that involved in police patrols or ambulance services. The procedure has two phases with different objectives. Phase 1 is designed to minimize region-wide travel time and results in a facility positioning and a sectoring of the district. Phase 2 deals with three, usually conflicting objectives related to equalizing performance measures such as workloads and travel times. The first part requires specifications of initial locations of units, determination of the spatial response patterns, and relocation of units. These procedures are considered with respect to decomposition, network flow, problems and solution methods, and mean service time calibration. The second involves the use of three equalization algorithms. In both parts, the user feeds decisional and geographical data into the computer by means of a digitizer, mouse, or colorscreen. Outputs are displayed in a user-friendly way by means of color graphics. Tables, figures, and 18 references. (Author abstract modified)