Disaster relief vehicle routing with volunteer coverage

In disaster relief operations, modelers typically adopt a pessimistic approach, where we optimize for the worst-case scenario. In reality, there is a chance for human compassion and support which we can incorporate in the operations: specifically, we often see volunteers who are willing to offer their help and services. In this work, we present a series of vehicle routing problems exploiting this notion of volunteers who are able to optionally provide aid to surrounding areas. We incorporate human volunteers into our problems and determine the optimal routing scheme within a network to minimize time and cost while meeting the demands of the locations. We develop a novel model based on the Miller-Tucker-Zemlin constraints, which introduces the concept of optional demands for the benefit of supporting the aid effort in an area. We reintroduce fundamental problems in vehicle routing now with a more realistic (and optimistic) component. We present computational results showcasing how volunteers may dramatically reduce the response times of the affected areas. We also present a sensitivity analysis over varying levels of volunteer availability, ability to reach farther areas (volunteer radius), and robustness of transportation infrastructure.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Industrial Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Hoevener, Thomas

Contributors dc:contributor

• Vogiatzis, Chrysafis

• Disaster Relief Operations
• Vehicle Routing Problem
• Volunteers

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Thomas Hoevener

Language dc:language

eng, en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124346

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124346