Vulnerability to COVID-19 in Pernambuco, Brazil: A geospatial evaluation supported by multiple-criteria decision aid methodology

The paper presents an innovative application to identify areas vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) considering a combination of spatial analysis and a multi-criteria learning approach. We applied this methodology in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil identifying vulnerable areas by considering a set of determinants and risk factors for COVID-19, including demographic, economic and spatial characteristics and the number of human COVID-19 infections. Examining possible patterns over a set number of days taking the number of cases recorded, we arrived at a set of compatible decision rules to explain the relation between risk factors and COVID-19 cases. The results reveal why certain municipalities are critically vulnerable to COVID-19 highlighting locations for which knowledge can be gained about environmental factors.

Multiple-Criteria-Based Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Design Problem

The article presents the issue of designing a network of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) for servicing passenger and commercial vehicles and taking into account the already existing locations. The authors propose a five-stage multicriteria- and GIS-based EVCS location methodology (5MAGISEV) for designing the EVCS network that includes defining potential EVCS locations (stage 1), constructing a family of evaluation criteria (stage 2), generating alternatives (stage 3), selecting an appropriate multiple criteria decision aid method (stage 4) and conducting a multicriteria evaluation of alternatives (stage 5). The methodology was verified by its experimental application for solving the problem of EVCS location in Poznan, Poland. As a result of its application, a set of over 155,000 alternatives was generated in view of different EVCS location determination policies. A family of eight criteria with subcriteria was proposed to assess the solutions, including the evaluation of the degree of integration of the considered EVCSs with such issues as public transport (C1); urbanized areas (C2); main road network (C3); industrial areas (C4); and the location with respect to transport areas (C5), shops of various types (C6), address points (C7) and DYI stores (C8). Based on the selected method of multiple criteria decision aid (LBS), a solution was selected that constitutes a compromise design of the EVCS network.

Use of Life Cycle Cost Analysis and Multiple Criteria Decision Aid Tools for Designing Road Vertical Profiles

The current design practice for the vertical profile of roads in rolling and mountainous terrains is to follow the existing grades in order to minimize earthwork costs. This means that the only criterion considered during the design phase is the initial cost. It would be preferable to include other criteria that are directly related to sustainability, particularly fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Therefore, this paper describes a proposed design procedure that starts by finding feasible alternatives with different grades. Then, a microsimulation traffic tool is used to simulate the movement of predicted vehicles (volume and type) over the different alternatives. The microsimulation tool provides reliable estimates of travel times, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions for the different alternatives. With these data, it is possible to use life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) or multiple criteria decision aid (MCDA) tools to select the “optimal” alternative. The proposed procedure was used on a case study involving a 6-km highway section with different proposed grades ranging from 2% to 8%. Using LCCA and an MCDA tool, it was revealed that the current design alternative is not the optimal alternative in most considered scenarios (various fuel values for LCCA and different “Cost” weights for MCDA).

The Application of the Multiple Criteria Decision Aid to Assess Transport Policy Measures Focusing on Innovation

The sustainable development of transport is fostered by innovations. To implement innovations, the European Commission issues different regulations, programs and initiatives and the European Transport Policy has a significant impact on transport policy in the member states. At the same time, transport policy is dynamic and requires new solutions that will allow the planned goals to be achieved. In this context, it is important to analyze the effectiveness of the current innovation policies, and to create recommendations for future actions that bring innovations to the market. This article concerns the subject of innovation policy in the transport sector. It illustrates the possibility of applying one of the methods of the multiple criteria decision aid, i.e., the simple additive weighting (SAW) method to assess the European Union (EU) and national policy measures in surface transport in terms of their influence on the market take-up of innovations. The use of this method allows for the analyzed policy measures to be contemplated in terms of various criteria and to identify those that best meet the adopted criteria, and thus those that could contribute the most to the stimulation of innovation. The article focuses on the method itself, indicating its flexibility and ease of use, while the analyzed collection of policy measures constitutes only the background of the deliberations.

Application of MCDA/MCDM methods for an integrated urban public transportation system – case study, city of Cracow

The paper presents the application of the Multiple Criteria Decision Aid/Making (MCDA/MCDM) methodology in the assessment of the development of different scenarios for an urban public transportation system (UPTS). This methodology allows considering several conflicting objectives and performing the evaluation process in a comprehensive manner. This approach also corresponds to the holistic philosophy: different aspects (economic, technical, social etc.) and interest groups – stakeholders (operators, passengers, city government etc.). The MCDA/MCDM methodology is specifically customized to the real life case study – urban public transportation system in the city of Cracow (Poland). A family of 10 criteria is proposed to evaluate several solutions (W) for a UPTS in terms of their usefulness and attractiveness for different stakeholders. These criteria take into account: travel time and standard, effectiveness of the fleet use, environment friendliness, the level of integration and reliability of the UPTS, safety and security, the profitability and availability of the UPTS, investment costs. Considering the possible solutions, the 6 alternatives were designed heuristically and compared with the current state (denotation of alternative W0). Based on the analysis, for the final considerations compared with the current alternative, 7 new solutions of the integrated urban public transportation in Cracow were adopted, denoted as: W1 (bus/rail alternative: integration of high-speed agglomeration rail with bus transportation), W2 (rail/tram/bus alternative: integration of high-speed agglomeration rail with tram and bus transport system), W3 (alternative with the underground: integration of the underground with high-speed agglomeration rail and with tram and bus transport system), W4 (tram/rail alternative: integration of high-speed agglomeration rail with tram transport), W5 (Tram alternative: integration of tram transport with bus transport), W5A (tram alternative: sub-alternative to the alternative W5, integration of tram transport), W6 (dual-mode tram alternative: integration of dual-mode tram transport). The variants of the scenarios for the urban public transportation system were generated by VISUM computer macro-simulation software. The computational experiment was carried out with the practical application of different Multiple Criteria Decision Aid/Making methods: AHP (Expert Choice program) and Electre III (software package Diviz).