A multi - period capacitated school location problem 3 with modular equipment and closest assignment 4 considerations 5

9 Abstract In rapidly growing urban areas, it is deemed vital to expand (or contract) 10 an existing network of public facilities to meet anticipated changes in the level of 11 demand. We present a multi-period capacitated median model for school network 12 facility location planning that minimizes transportation costs, while functional costs 13 are subject to a budget constraint. The proposed Vintage Flexible Capacitated 14 Location Problem (ViFCLP) has the flexibility to account for a minimum school15 age closing requirement, while the maximum capacity of each school can be 16 adjusted by the addition of modular units. Non-closest assignments are controlled by 17 the introduction of a parameter penalizing excess travel. The applicability of the 18 ViFCLP is illustrated on a large US school system (Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North 19 Carolina) where high school demand is expected to grow faster with distance to the 20 city center. Higher school capacities and greater penalty on travel impedance 21 parameter reduce the number of non-closest assignments. The proposed model is 22 beneficial to policy makers seeking to improve the provision and efficiency of 23 public services over a multi-period planning horizon. 24 25