A Parametric Model for the Allocation of Fire Companies in New York City

A fire department, in order to balance equitably its resources throughout a city, must consider several often conflicting objectives. This paper describes an allocation method that avoids the difficulty of choosing an objective in advance by allowing the decision-maker to enumerate a range of criteria by varying a trade-off parameter. The method uses travel time to fires as a measure of system performance and generates allocations satisfying criteria ranging from the minimization of city-wide travel time to the equalization of average travel times in different regions. A comparison of the allocations generated by the model to the current allocation of fire companies in New York City shows that one value of the trade-off parameter produces results that correspond closely to the current allocation policy. An example of how the model can be used as a policy tool is given.

• 저널Management Science · 23(2) · 146–158
• 토픽Evacuation and Crowd Dynamics · Ocean Engineering
• DOI10.1287/mnsc.23.2.146
• 저자Kenneth Lloyd Rider