An integrated multicomputer DSS design for transport planning using embedded computer simulation and database tools

Goods movement is probably the most neglected issue in transport planning. What work has been done is largely restricted to urban goods movement. A major project funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation has resulted in a unique Decision Support System for transportation planners of highway goods movement. This paper presents the design of the system. Some of the system’s unique features include: (1)use of both mainframe and microcomputers to form an integrated interface, (2)use of a database language to organize and preprocess mail survey data and topology data, and (3)use of a discrete-event computer simulation model to perform ‘what-if’ scenarios in a statistically valid manner. All components of the system are accessed through a user-friendly menu structure which assists in both data manipulation and the translation of simulation experiment output into summaries of commodity type, weight distribution, capacity analysis, safety implications, and pavement maintenance. This DSS, named AFNA (Arizona Freight Network Analysis), is the first involving simultaneous embedded computer simulation and database tools. It is complete and now in use providing ADOT transportation engineers with new planning capabilities.