An interactive multiobjective decision support framework for transportation investment

Abstract

This report presents a multiobjective decision framework to support the decision making process in transportation investment analysis. One important capability of the multiobjective decision framework is that it allows many intangible objectives that are difficult to express on an absolute numerical scale to be considered without the need to convert the units into monetary scale. The proposed multiobjective decision framework allows a decision maker to select a reduced number of alternatives from a larger number of all available alternatives while ensuring that the selected alternatives are the best possible options. This framework could also be used to generate decision options for optimal allocation of resources between competing projects. The proposed decision framework is based on three multiobjective analysis concepts: the Surrogate Worth Tradeoff method for continuous decision problems and the Multiattribute Utility and Minimum Tolerance methods for discrete decision problems. These concepts help decision makers choose among, prioritize, and generate the most feasible and optimal alternatives. The four case studies presented as appendices demonstrate the application of the proposed decision framework to real-world projects.