Optimal planning for developing, modernizing and maintaining the street infrastructure of dense and large urban areas

Abstract

This paper presents an optimization model for scheduling work on urban street infrastructures. Using real traffic data from Bucharest, the paper analyzes the exceeding of users’ costs as the difference between the users' total costs on a simplified network without works and the users' total costs in cases of various strategies of work completion. Due to the significant amount of users' costs, these costs have to be considered beside the construction costs in selecting the best scheduling strategy. The constructor's costs are presented in three situations: (1) the route, including several streets, is totally closed, there is a sole constructor working on the entire route and the streets are opened to traffic simultaneously; (2) the route is executed subsequently, each street being opened to traffic as the works on it are finished; and (3) all works start simultaneously, each street having its own construction site and the streets are opened to traffic as the works are finished. The total social cost, as a sum of users' additional costs and constructor's costs for the three strategies, represents the objective function for the optimal works scheduling on urban street infrastructure.