Evasive flow capture: Optimal location of weigh-in-motion systems, tollbooths, and security checkpoints

The flow‐capturing problem (FCP) consists of locating facilities to maximize the number of flow‐based customers that encounter at least one of these facilities along their predetermined travel paths. The FCP literature assumes that if a facility is located along (or ‘close enough’ to) a predetermined path of a flow of customers, that flow is considered captured. However, existing models for the FCP do not consider targeted users who behave noncooperatively by changing their travel paths to avoid fixed facilities. Examples of facilities that targeted subjects may have an incentive to avoid include weigh‐in‐motion stations used to detect and fine overweight trucks, tollbooths, and security and safety checkpoints. This article introduces a new type of flow‐capturing model, called the ‘evasive flow‐capturing problem’ (EFCP), which generalizes the FCP and has relevant applications in transportation, revenue management, and security and safety management. We formulate deterministic and stochastic versions of the EFCP, analyze their structural properties, study exact and approximate solution techniques, and show an application to a real‐world transportation network.