The pricing of public transportation services is a complex task that authorities deal with because many criteria should be considered while deciding on the pricing system. Some include decentralization of the cities due to lower rents in outer-city regions and operating costs of longer transportation lines. Hence, four alternative public transportation pricing systems are defined, which are flat fare, distance-based, zonal, and rent-based fare. To prioritize these alternatives, four aspects are determined, namely cost, transportation, social and political, and there are 13 criteria present under these aspects. A two-stage hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model based on type-2 neutrosophic numbers (T2NNs) is introduced to provide a straightforward and flexible decision-making tool for researchers and practitioners. In its first stage, the reputation of the experts is determined under the T2NN environment. Second, the novel T2NN-based CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method is employed to evaluate the criteria importance, while the new T2NN-based Multi-Attributive Border Approximation area Comparison (MABAC) method is used to rank the public transportation pricing systems. The results show that rent-based fare pricing is the most advantageous alternative. The high reliability and robustness of the integrated CRITIC and MABAC based type-2 neutrosophic model are demonstrated with the comparative and sensitivity analyses. • Public transportation pricing system selection problem is addressed and solved. • Practical and methodological frameworks for public transportation pricing are given. • Integrated CRITIC and MABAC based type-2 neutrosophic model is introduced. • The presented hybrid T2NN-based model is highly robust, reliable, and flexible. • The most advantageous pricing system is the rent-based fare. 

An integrated CRITIC and MABAC based type-2 neutrosophic model for public transportation pricing system selection

The pricing of public transportation services is a complex task that authorities deal with because many criteria should be considered while deciding on the pricing system. Some include decentralization of the cities due to lower rents in outer-city regions and operating costs of longer transportation lines. Hence, four alternative public transportation pricing systems are defined, which are flat fare, distance-based, zonal, and rent-based fare. To prioritize these alternatives, four aspects are determined, namely cost, transportation, social and political, and there are 13 criteria present under these aspects. A two-stage hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model based on type-2 neutrosophic numbers (T2NNs) is introduced to provide a straightforward and flexible decision-making tool for researchers and practitioners. In its first stage, the reputation of the experts is determined under the T2NN environment. Second, the novel T2NN-based CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method is employed to evaluate the criteria importance, while the new T2NN-based Multi-Attributive Border Approximation area Comparison (MABAC) method is used to rank the public transportation pricing systems. The results show that rent-based fare pricing is the most advantageous alternative. The high reliability and robustness of the integrated CRITIC and MABAC based type-2 neutrosophic model are demonstrated with the comparative and sensitivity analyses.

Level-based weight assessment (LBWA) model is a recently introduced algorithm for determining criteria weights for multi-criteria group decision making. In this paper, the authors aim to extend the basic framework of LBWA in the picture fuzzy (PF) environment using actual score (AS) measures of the picture fuzzy numbers (PFN). They apply this extended framework in addressing a real-life problem pertaining to social entrepreneurship or social entrepreneurs (SE) in the context of COVID-19. They endeavor to identify the critical challenging factors of SE in the new normal. They list the challenges as revealed through literature review and take the opinion of a group of SEs using PF linguistic scale. They then apply the proposed framework, actual score-based picture fuzzy LBWA. They notice that ability to withstand disruption risk and show resilience and fund availability and creation of a supporting business ecosystems are the major challenges that SEs face in the new normal. They carry out validity checking and sensitivity analysis, which show reasonable consistency and stability in the result.

An Extended LBWA Framework in Picture Fuzzy Environment Using Actual Score Measures Application in Social Enterprise Systems

This study aims to explore whether higher education and science popularization can achieve coordinated growth with temporal and spatial characteristics. Selecting the provincial regions of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China as cases with data from the national statistics administrations (such as China Statistical Yearbook), this study uses entropy weight analysis, TOPSIS, GM(1,1) gray prediction methods and coupling coordination degree model to evaluate the coordinated growth status. The key findings are: (1) the annual budget per student, and the number of science and technology museums affect both systems more obviously; (2) the overall performances of science popularization fluctuate more obviously than those of higher education; (3) the coordinated growth performances of the two systems in most regions remain mild fluctuations and keep relatively stable coordinated status, however, temporal and spatial variation tendencies do exist among regions. Therefore, corresponding countermeasures should be implemented: generally, national authority needs to involve in coordination activities among regions; the regions with satisfactory coordinated growth performances need more creative approaches to maintain the coordinated growth interactions; the regions at the transitioning status need to prevent the grade decline and upgrade the performances; the regions with lagging performances need to stop the decline and reduce the gaps with others. The novelties include analyzing the coordinated growth interaction mechanism between the two, selecting indices to assess the abstract interaction mechanism precisely, proposing suggestions based on temporal and spatial comparisons of the coordinated growth performances, etc.

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Higher education and science popularization: Can they achieve coordinated growth?

The present paper aims to propose a new hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework with spherical fuzzy numbers (SFNs). We extend two recently developed algorithms such as level-based weight assessment (LBWA) and MULTIMOOSRAL in spherical fuzzy (SF) domain. We present a case study on six MSME units belonging to engineering cluster for examining their leanness. MSMEs form the backbone of the socioeconomic growth and therefore garner attention of the policy makers. Lean manufacturing (LM) has been a key enabler for the last three decades which help the organizations to achieve business growth. We consider the criteria like leadership, supplier focus, customer focus, process management, waste, culture, human resource focus, technology use and communication, and awareness to compare leanness of the MSMEs using expert opinions. We find that committed leadership, waste reduction, and customer value are given more weightage by the experts for achieving leanness in SMEs. Furthermore, the results show that medium and small units with focused product line score high in terms of leanness. We validate the results obtained by our proposed method by comparing with the same derived by using another widely used approach such as Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). We carry out sensitivity analysis for examining the stability in the solution with the changes in the given condition such as variations in the criteria weights. Our results using SF-LBWA-MULTIMOOSRAL show reasonable accuracy and stability.

/pdf/a-new-spherical-fuzzy-lbwa-multimoosral-framework-3d1737e2.pdf

A New Spherical Fuzzy LBWA-MULTIMOOSRAL Framework: Application in Evaluation of Leanness of MSMEs in India

A decision making procedure for selection of a weapon system involves different, often contradictory criteriaand reaching decisions under conditions of uncertainty This paper proposes a novel multi-criteria methodology based on D numbers which enables efficient analysis of the information used for decision making The proposed methodology has been developed in order to enable selection of an efficient weapon system under conditions when a large number of hierarchically structured evaluation criteria has to be processed A novel D number based Level Based Weight Assessment – Multi Attributive Border Approximation area Comparison (D LBWA-MABAC) model is used for selection of an automatic cannon for integration into combat vehicles Criteria weights are determined based on the improved LBWA-D model The traditional MABAC method has been further developed by integration of interval numbers A hybrid D LBWA-MABAC framework is used for evaluation of an automatic cannon for integration into combat vehicles Nine weapon systems used worldwide have been ranked in this paper This multicriteria approach allows decision makers to assess options objectively and reach a rational decision regarding the selection of an optimal weapon system Validation of the proposed methodology is performed through sensitivity analysis which studies how changes in the weights of the best criterion and the elasticity coefficient affect the ranking results

https://publications.drdo.gov.in/ojs/index.php/dsj/article/download/15738/7461

M.S.M. E. Amine

Papers

Application of a D Number based LBWA Model and an Interval MABAC Model in Selection of an Automatic Cannon for Integration into Combat Vehicles