A multi-criteria decision making framework to choose among high speed rail, conventional rail and air transport / Dalia Suliman Almohrez ; Supervised Moheeb Elsaid Ibrahim , Ahmed Abdelmoamen Khalil , Omar H. Elanwar

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Engineering - Department of Civil Engineering

High speed rail is a viable public transport investment option to overcome problems associated with traffic congestion. This research presents a framework for comparing three modes of transport; high speed rail, conventional rail and air transport. The framework is based on four keys decision criteria, which have the most influence on passengers{u2019} choices for transport mode. These criteria include travel time, cost, comfort and reliability. The proposed framework was applied on a major transportation corridor in Egypt linking its two largest cities; Cairo and Alexandria. In order to conduct a realistic comparison, potential passengers were classified into three categories according to their level of income: low, medium and high. The results showed that for low-income passengers, the conventional rail was the most attractive. Whereas, for both medium and high-income passengers, the high speed rail was the most attractive. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken to examine how model output is affected by changes in the model assumptions. Finally, multi criteria decision making (MCDM) was applied to validate the proposed framework. The technique for order of preference by similarity to Ideal solution (TOPSIS) method was used to identify the optimal transportation mode for each income level. The required weights for the different criteria were calculated based on the results of a questionnaire tool and using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results obtained from the TOPSIS technique were consistent with those obtained from proposed monetary-based framework. This confirms the validity of the proposed framework in comparing the three transportation modes

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