Hub Location and Hub Network Design

集线器是各种运输和电信网络的重要组成部分，起着交换、分拣和连接点的作用，也是拼装或散装的终端。在交通网络中，枢纽是在车辆或运输方式之间交换乘客和货物的地方。公共交通枢纽的例子包括机场、火车站、地铁站和公交总站。另一方面，货运枢纽可以是卡车码头、分类堆场、海港或这些(多式联运码头)的任何组合。电信网络中的集线器包括交换机、路由器和集线器。集线器选址问题中的主要决策是集线器设施的位置和满足需求的流路由。交通网络中的枢纽选址问题涉及到选址枢纽设施以处理货流或人流。而在电信领域，他们关注的是定位硬件以实现一组节点之间的通信。*在这项研究中，我们的目标是建立模型并解决枢纽选址中集成服务网络设计决策的关键问题。我们将关注可扩展以设计广泛的集线器网络的一般问题。我们将考虑不同类型的服务水平、多种运输方式和不同类型的车队。我们将确定在设计的多式联运枢纽网络中提供哪些类型的服务，以及使用的车辆数量和频率。我们将对拥塞的影响进行建模，并分析成本和服务时间之间的权衡。我们将开发模型和高效算法，从包括公共交通和铁路网在内的各种服务网络中设计不同的枢纽网络拓扑。*我们将通过开发新的数学公式和精确或启发式的求解算法，为这些具有挑战性的枢纽选址和枢纽网络设计问题提供有效的解决方案。我们将进行广泛的敏感性分析，以获得管理洞察力。研究结果将为运输和物流行业的决策支持提供有价值的工具。*研究结果将用于设计新的枢纽网络和改进现有的枢纽网络，如邮政递送、快递递送、公共交通或目前在加拿大运营的货运铁路网。将培训对这一主题具有全面知识的高素质人员。他们将利用他们的专业知识，例如，作为解决方案开发人员、运营支持专家或运营经理，来改善加拿大的运输、物流和电信网络，并帮助提高加拿大的物流绩效指数评级。*

Hubs are an important component of various transportation and telecommunications networks, functioning as switching, sorting, and connection points, as well as consolidation or break-bulk terminals. In transportation networks, a hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles or transportation modes. Examples of public transportation hubs include airports, railway stations, metro stations, and bus terminals. Freight hubs, on the other hand, may be truck terminals, classification yards, seaports, or any combination of these (intermodal terminals). Hubs in telecommunications networks include switches, routers, and concentrators.******The main decisions in hub location problems are the location of hub facilities and the routing of flows to serve demand. Hub location problems in transportation networks involve locating hub facilities to handle flows of freight or passengers. While in telecommunications, they concern locating hardware to enable communication among a set of nodes. ******In this research, we aim to model and solve key problems integrating service network design decisions in hub location. We will focus on generic problems that can be extended to design a broad range of hub networks. We will consider different types of service levels, multiple transportation modes, and a heterogeneous vehicle fleet. We will determine which types of services to offer and the number and frequency of the vehicles to be utilized within the designed intermodal hub networks. We will model the effects of congestion and also analyze the trade-off between cost and service time. We will develop models and efficient algorithms for designing different hub network topologies from various service networks including public transportation and railway networks. ******We will provide efficient solutions to these challenging hub location and hub network design problems by developing novel mathematical formulations and exact or heuristic solution algorithms. We will perform extensive sensitivity analyses to derive managerial insights. The outcome will be a valuable tool for decision support in the transportation and logistics industry.******The results will be used to design new hub networks and improve existing ones, such as postal delivery, express shipment delivery, public transportation, or freight railway networks currently operating in Canada. Highly qualified personnel with comprehensive knowledge on the subject will be trained. They will use their expertise, for example, as a solution developer, operations support specialist, or an operations manager to improve Canada's transportation, logistics, and telecommunications networks and help increase Logistics Performance Index rating of Canada in the long-term.*** **