The Pareto-optimal Solution Set of the Equilibrium Network Design Problem with Multiple Commensurate Objectives

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to develop a solution framework to study equilibrium transportation network design problems with multiple objectives that are mutually commensurate. Objective parameterization, or scalarization, forms the core idea of this solution approach, by which a multi-objective problem can be equivalently addressed by tackling a series of single-objective problems. In particular, we develop a parameterization-based heuristic that resembles an iterative divide-and-conquer strategy to locate a Pareto-optimal solution in each divided range of commensurate parameters. Unlike its previous counterparts, the heuristic is capable of asymptotically exhausting the complete Pareto-optimal solution set and identifying parameter ranges that exclude any Pareto-optimal solution. Its algorithmic effectiveness and solution characteristics are justified by a set of numerical examples, from which we also gain additional insights about its solution generation behavior and the tradeoff between the computation cost and solution quality.