Hub arc location problems: Part I – introduction and results

Hub networks play an important role in many transportation and telecommunications systems. This paper introduces a new model called the hub arc location model. Rather than locate discrete hub facilities, this model locates hub arcs, which have reduced unit flow costs. Four special cases of the general hub arc location model are examined in detail. We provide motivation for the new models, and present examples and optimal solutions, using data for U.S. air passenger traffic. Results are used to compare optimal costs, hub locations, and hub arc locations with corresponding hub median optimal solutions. The results reveal interesting spatial patterns and help identify promising cities and regions for hubs. A companion paper presents integer programming formulations and solution algorithms for the new hub arc problems. It also provides details and computation times for these solution algorithms.