Designing a web spatial decision support system based on analytic network process to locate a freight lorry parking

The relevant role of freight lorry parking facilities as a tool to reduce nuisances and impact of economic activities in densely populated urban areas is widely recognised in the literature. Nevertheless, the literature currently lacks specific contributions addressing the use of a complex Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach for coping with an optimal location of freight lorry parking facilities in the urban context. This paper contributes to filling this gap by analysing a real-world case study motivated by the problem of intense freight vehicles traffic around the city of Bradford, Yorkshire (UK). Since it is necessary to include diverse analysis perspectives, reflecting the different classes of involved stakeholders, this study proposes adopting the Analytic Network Process (ANP) approach as a tool to support the selection and evaluation of alternatives for a freight lorry parking facility, followed by the design of software based on this approach. The proposed web Spatial Decision Support System provides a valuable tool to foster extended discussions with experts and facilitate the decision process in this class of location problems.