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Optimal and heuristic solutions to the p-median problem

Journal Article · · Geogr. Anal.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6778367

The p-median problem is to find, for p facilities on a network, the locations that minimize the aggregate distance traveled from all nodes on the network, along the network, to their closest facility. The problem has been optimally solved by branch and bound, linear programing, and special decomposition algorithms. Problems of about fifty demand nodes seem to be the largest successfully solved by these optimal methods. A number of heuristics have been proposed for this problem because of the expense of optimal solutions for even small problems and the impossibility, at this time, of solving larger problems. The most commonly used heuristics appear to be those of Maranzana and Teitz and Bart. The results of a test of these two heuristics and a standard linear programing system on six test problems are reported. 1 table. (RWR)

Research Organization:
Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City
OSTI ID:
6778367
Journal Information:
Geogr. Anal.; (United States), Journal Name: Geogr. Anal.; (United States) Vol. 11:1; ISSN GPHAA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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