IMPACTS OF SNOW ACCUMULATION ON A FACILITY LOCATION MODEL –FOCUSING ON THE ROAD NETWORK IN NAGAOKA, NIIGATA, JAPAN–

Snow cover on road surfaces is considered an adverse driving condition and has been shown to reduce traffic capacity. This reduction in traffic capacity can be interpreted as an increase in perceived travel distance. Thus, snow cover indirectly affects the optimal location of various facilities, as most models calculate the optimal locations based on traveling distance. In this study, we investigate the effects of snow cover on the accessibility of existing facilities and on optimality in the problem of selecting a location for new facilities, especially the p-median problem. Regarding the effect on existing facilities, the results showed that snow cover increased the total effective travelling distance to existing facilities by a factor of 1.5. To consider impacts on the facility location problem, we evaluated facility locations calculated with the effective summer and winter distances by comparing the total travel distance ratio in winter to that of summer. The results of a simulation with 100 different road network patterns showed that the mode and median values were less than 1.0. We conclude that using effective winter distances is preferable to obtain an optimal facility location in terms of the course of an operating year.