Mehdi Nourinejad | University of Toronto (original) (raw)

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Papers by Mehdi Nourinejad

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2015

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) is a technology which can reduce the cost for power distribution network op... more Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) is a technology which can reduce the cost for power distribution network operators by storing electricity in the batteries of electric-drive vehicles and retrieving it when
energy demands increase during the course of a day. Participants of V2G are reimbursed for offering their vehicles which can lead to changes in trip schedules when V2G payments are high and travelers are sensitive to the payments. However, prior studies have ignored the effects of V2G on
travelers’ schedules. This research gap is addressed with a bi-level V2G market equilibrium model where the lower level model determines the equilibrium activity patterns as a result of upper level pricing and linear approximated AC flow distribution decisions. An algorithm is proposed for the model and illustrated on a simple telecommuting example where travelers can work from home and offer their vehicle charge capacity to the power provider. The model is then applied to the same case study from Lam and Yin (2001) to first replicate the lower level equilibrium problem as a special case when no V2G is present, and then to show the potential effects of the V2G policy to decrease locational marginal prices for a distribution network operator. The proposed algorithm for the V2G policy resulted in a substantial 20% increase in social welfare over the benchmark equilibrium without V2G.

Urban truck parking policies include time restrictions, pricing policies, space management and en... more Urban truck parking policies include time restrictions, pricing policies, space management and enforcement. This paper develops a method for investigating the potential impact of truck parking policy in urban areas. An econometric parking choice model is developed that accounts for parking type and location. A traffic simulation module is developed that incorporates the parking choice model to select suitable parking facilities/locations. The models are demonstrated to evaluate the impact of dedicating on-street parking in a busy street system in the Toronto CBD. The results of the study show lower mean searching time for freight vehicles when some streets are reserved for freight parking, accompanied by higher search and walking times for passenger vehicles.

This paper proposes a dynamic optimization-simulation model as a decision support system for one-... more This paper proposes a dynamic optimization-simulation model as a decision support system for one-way carsharing organizations. To reduce the vehicle imbalance in one-way systems, a Vehicle Relocation Optimization model is solved successively in a discrete event simulation. Each event is the arrival of a new user. The model is compared to an a priori benchmark model. Autoshare is chosen as a case study. Results show that increasing the reservation time (time between requesting and picking up a vehicle) from 0 to 30 minutes reduces fleet size by 86%. The model captures a tradeoff between vehicle relocation hours and fleet size.

Carsharing organizations are shared-mobility services which allow users to share vehicles of a fl... more Carsharing organizations are shared-mobility services which allow users to share vehicles of a fleet. These services are divided into one-way and two-way systems. Two-way systems require users to return the vehicles to their original pick up stations whereas one-ways systems do not. We present a hybrid system that has features of both. Two integer programming optimization models are formulated. The first model, called the fleet size problem (FSP), is for tactical planning and calculates the required fleet size in order to answer all the demand in various market segments where every market segment is composed of some direct-trip and some round-trip users. This model also accounts for vehicle relocation between stations. In reality, however, fleet size is fixed for day-to-day operations. With a specified fleet size, not all users are necessarily served unless the fleet size is quite large compared to the demand. Therefore, a second operational model, called profit maximization problem (PMP), selects from a list of user requests those who profit the service-provider the most. Data from Autoshare, a carsharing company in Toronto, is used to assess the models. Results of the FSP model indicate that one-way systems require the lowest fleet size but highest vehicle relocation hours. Two-way systems are relatively insensitive to the market segment and the hybrid system’s performance is dependent on the market segment scenario. The PMP model shows that the one-way (two-way) system is most beneficial to direct-trip (round-trip) users. The hybrid system is the only system without user surplus costs.

In disaster management, earthquakes are one of the leading causes of death. The aftermath of such... more In disaster management, earthquakes are one of the leading causes of death. The aftermath of such phenomena can be abated if proper actions take place before the onset of the earthquake. Various sectors in a country are responsible for managing earthquakes but lack of knowledge about the positive effects of their actions makes them reluctant to do so. Stabilizing houses and structures, positioning humanitarian goods, retrofitting transportation links, and devising a disaster response plan can help save more lives. Of course, these actions are separate projects with defined budgets which are assigned to different sectors, but coordination of them is necessary. To highlight the effects of pre-disaster actions on recovery costs, Recovery Indexes are introduced which show the state of the city after the earthquake. Also a model is proposed to calculate the recovery costs of an earthquake when different actions have taken place. The results show how significant any pre-disaster action can be on the recovery cost and the essentiality of taking actions before it is too late.

This paper proposes a dynamic optimization–simulation model as a decision support system for one-... more This paper proposes a dynamic optimization–simulation model as a decision support system for one-way carsharing organizations. To reduce the vehicle imbalance in one-way systems, a Vehicle Relocation Optimization model is solved successively in a discrete event simulation. Each event is the arrival of a new user. The model is compared to an a priori benchmark model. Autoshare is chosen as a case study. Results show that increasing the reservation time (time between requesting and picking up a vehicle) from 0 to 30 min reduces fleet size by 86%. The model captures a tradeoff between vehicle relocation hours and fleet size.

We model three different agencies involved in disaster management through OR.We coordinate agenci... more We model three different agencies involved in disaster management through OR.We coordinate agencies responsible for different phases of disaster management.Coordination indicates an average improvement of 7.5–24% in the death toll.Through multi-agent optimization, connections between the agencies are observed.Efficiency of relief operations is dependent on transportation network reliability.Natural earthquake disasters are unprecedented incidents which take many lives as a consequence and cause major damages to lifeline infrastructures. Various agencies in a country are responsible for reducing such adverse impacts within specific budgets. These responsibilities range from before to after the incident, targeting one of the main phases of disaster management (mitigation, preparedness, and response). Use of OR in disaster management and coordination of its phases has been mostly ignored and highly recommended in former reviews. This paper presents a formulation to coordinate three main agencies and proposes a heuristic approach to solve the different introduced sub-problems. The results show an improvement of 7.5–24% when the agencies are coordinated.

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2015