Fuzzy multicriteria decision support for budget allocation in the transport sector

Abstract

This paper compares two ways of providing decision support for the allocation of a fixed financial budget among a set of competing highway investment proposals. The first, which is described only in outline, uses a broadly conventional, hierarchically structured linear additive multicriteria model. The technical focus of the paper, however, is on the second, an approach based in fuzzy multicriteria modelling. The thinking which led us to explore this approach is set out, together with the formal structure of the model. The results of a small case study are given and an assessment is made of how decision makers’ understanding of the investment options available can be enhanced by using the two models in tandem.