Analogies from Traffic Phenomena to Inspire Linear Scheduling Models with Singularity Functions

Established techniques like the Critical Path Method and Linear Scheduling Method are activity centered and exhibit schedules statically, which impedes their ability to plan and control projects holistically. Scheduling therefore should be enhanced by incorporating new capabilities of measuring and displaying the dynamic nature of projects. In another technical field that employs a time-space coordinate system, however, traffic engineering, researchers successfully apply various parameters to measure the performance of an inherently dynamic behavior, which is identified as having significant potential to be adapted for scheduling purposes. This paper identifies concepts in traffic measurement that currently lack analogies in scheduling, including signals and trajectories. They are modeled with singularity functions, rangebased expressions for variable phenomena, for new application in linear scheduling. Examples demonstrate the feasibility of deriving analogies from a related engineering field, which provides a compass to navigate future research to explore concepts that emerge from interaction of dynamic elements.