Integrating GIS and AHP to Prioritize Transportation Infrastructure Using Sustainability Metrics

Abstract

As the risk of climate change continues, the need for transportation adaptation planning increases. Decisions regarding development (or redevelopment) of transportation systems, specifically transit facilities, have an essential role in the future of public mobility. Therefore, formalizing the project prioritization process using geographic information systems (GIS), sustainability metrics, and decision analysis techniques is needed. This research aims to identify sustainability metrics that address environmental, economic, and societal factors of transportation projects (rail or bus networks) using an integrative GIS and AHP (analytic hierarchy process) approach. Sustainability metrics are identified as factors based on their relevance to transit systems and their opportunity for spatial application, including climate-related factors such as sea level rise. Then, AHP is applied through a pairwise comparison survey in order to determine the importance of each factor to project prioritization. The survey results are used to develop the project and location prioritization index (PLPI). A case study application based on Philadelphia County’s commuter rail network is used to demonstrate the applicability of the index to a real world network.