Implementing a Super Decisions Software (SDS) in a Transport Sector

Abstract

Most planning studies used traditional methods for differentiation and evaluation between alternatives and proposals for decision-making and determining the best alternative. One of the disadvantages of these methods is their significant reliance on subjectivity and linear evaluation to compare alternatives and the weak importance of measuring other effects between and within alternatives. It also involves costs, time, and effort to make the most accurate decision. This research attempts to highlight the importance of one of the computer methods used to compare alternatives and identify the best, especially in the transport sector, by applying the Analytic Network Process ANP method using the super decision software SDS. It is characterized by an organized and analytical method to address a wide range of factors rather than relying on intuition to assess the unperceived factors. This is making it a tool to support the decision-making process of complex situations, through the existence of interrelated relationships between elements within a network system. To implement the SDS as an application in the field of transportation, the research suggested three alternatives to construct parking in the Baghdad city center. With a set of primary and secondary criteria, by creating a decision-making structure to extract the relative weights of criteria and priority, thus choosing the best alternative. After the implementation, the software, one of the alternatives, was selected and demonstrated the importance of this application in transport sector studies in particular and planning in general.