Optimization Models for the Expansion of Airport Networks

217 Pages·2015·2.41 MB·English

Diana Rita Ramos Jorge
OPTIMIZATION AND SIMULATION OF ONE-WAY CARSHARING
OPERATIONS
PhD Thesis in Doctoral Program in Transport Systems supervised by Professor Gonçalo Correia and Professor Cynthia Barnhart, presented to the
Department of Civil Engineering of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra
September 2014
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To my mother
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Financial support
This research work was conducted under the MIT-Portugal Program and financed by
“Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” (FCT, Portugal) through the Ph.D. grant with
reference SFRH / BD / 51328 / 2010, and was co-financed by the European Social Fund
(ESF) within the “Programa Operacional Potencial Humano” (POPH), by project
InnoVshare - Viability analysis of different carsharing system configurations through an
innovative large scale agent based simulation model (PTDC/ECM-TRA/0528/2012),
and by project EMSURE - Energy and Mobility for Sustainable Regions (CENTRO-07-
0224-FEDER-002004). The POPH research program is integrated in the “National
Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 - Tipologia 4.1 – Formação Avançada”
(QREN 2007-2013).

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Acknowledgements
Firstly, I want to thank Professor Pais Antunes for playing the most important role in
my decision to pursue this PhD. You have always believed in my abilities and
transmitted the priceless confidence I needed to succeed. I am grateful for your support
and encouragement throughout the past years, as a teacher and as a friend.
My deepest gratitude goes to Professor Gonçalo Correia for permanent guidance,
availability and support. You shared your knowledge, stimulated my critical spirit and
willingness to always go further, and had a crucial role in the development of this work.
Thank you Professor, for helping me accomplish my goals.
I sincerely thank Professor Cynthia Barnhart for receiving me at MIT and supporting
my research. I benefited so much from your vast knowledge on operations research,
providing me unique and valuable insights essential to guide my work in a favorable
way. Despite an extremely full schedule as yours, you have always managed to make
the time to help me by addressing my questions.
I would also like to thank Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and MIT-
Portugal Program for their financial support that has allowed me to continue my studies
both in Portugal and at MIT. Furthermore, it was essential for me to be able to present
my work in major conferences worldwide. A special reference must be made to the
Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra for all the
institutional and logistics support.

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Acknowledgements
My thankfulness goes also to Lourenço Dantas from the Boston Logan Airport and to
my colleague Jóni Santos for providing me essential data for one of the case studies.
Without you, I would not be able to present such a realistic case study.
To my colleagues and friends at the Department of Civil Engineering, especially to
Melissa, Joana Carreira, Inês, Sílvia and Joana Cavadas, thank you for the great times
together and for the support I always felt to be present from your behalf. Joana Cavadas,
despite your late show in my life, I am certain you know how important you are to me.
Regarding my stay in the United States, I want to thank Ta for his imperative help and
availability, which played an important role in the development of my work. To Irene,
thank you very much for all the good moments we had together, your friendship and
support. You are one of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
Mark, you became one of the most important persons in my life. Living with you in
Boston and traveling with you throughout the country was privilege. I never thought it
would be such a life changing experience. Thank you so much, for everything we‟ve
been through, and everything that is still ahead.
To my friends, Catarina, Sara, João and Filipe, I am grateful that you were able to listen
to me constantly talking about my work and constant concerns, and still decided to stick
around. Thank you for the support and the great moments we had together, in person
and online. You are all very important to me.

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