An Integrated Multi Criteria Decision Making Model for Evaluating Park-and-Ride Facility Location Issue: A Case Study for Cuenca City in Ecuador

A park-and-ride (P&R) system is a set of facilities where private vehicle users can transfer to public transport to continue their journey. The main advantage of the system is decreasing the congestion in the central business district. This paper aims to analyze the most significant factors related to a Park-and-Ride facility location by adopting a combined model of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Best Worst Method (BWM). The integrated model is applicable for complex problems, which can be structured as a hierarchy with at least one 5 x 5 pairwise comparison matrix (PCM) (or bigger). Applying AHP for at least 5 x 5 PCM may generate inconsistent matrices, which may cause a loss of reliable information. As a solution for this gap, we conducted BWM, which generates more consistent comparisons compared to the AHP approach. Moreover, the model requires fewer comparisons compared to the classic AHP approach. That is the main reason of adopting the AHP-BWM model to evaluate Park-and-Ride facility location factors for a designed two-level hierarchical structure. As a case study, a real-world complex decision-making process was selected to evaluate the Park-and-Ride facility location problem in Cuenca city, Ecuador. The result shows that the application of multi-criteria methods becomes a planning tool for experts when designing a P&R system.