An aggregation technique for location problems with one-dimensional forbidden regions

The planar single facility location problem is investigated for the case in which forbidden regions (of singular dimensionality) are included in the topology of the solution space. Expected distance functions (EDFs) are used to construct a model for such problems which, although it results in a combinatorial problem, is easily solved for small problems and is not prohibitive for medium size problems. After presenting a definition of expected distance functions, this research will outline the proposed methodology. This methodology provides a means to locate, say, school bus depots for a city in which a large river with bridges (a set of forbidden regions of one dimension) passes through the center of the city.