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A sequential stochastic passenger screening problem for aviation security

Author

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  • Laura McLay
  • Sheldon Jacobson
  • Alexander Nikolaev

Abstract

Designing effective aviation security systems has become a problem of national concern. Since September 11th, 2001 passenger screening systems have become an important component in the design and operation of aviation security systems. This paper introduces the Sequential Stochastic Passenger Screening Problem (SSPSP), which allows passengers to be optimally assigned (in real-time) to aviation security resources. Passengers are classified as either selectees or non-selectees, with screening procedures in place for each such class. Passengers arrive sequentially, and a prescreening system determines each passenger's perceived risk level, which becomes known upon check-in. The objective of SSPSP is to use the passengers' perceived risk levels to determine the optimal policy for screening passengers that maximizes the expected number of true alarms, subject to capacity and assignment constraints. SSPSP is formulated as a Markov decision process, and an optimal policy is found using dynamic programming. Several structural properties of SSPSP are derived using its relationship to knapsack and sequential assignment problems. An illustrative example is provided, which indicates that a large proportion of high-risk passengers are classified as selectees.[Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of IIE Transactions for the following free supplemental resource: Appendix]

Suggested Citation

  • Laura McLay & Sheldon Jacobson & Alexander Nikolaev, 2009. "A sequential stochastic passenger screening problem for aviation security," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(6), pages 575-591.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:uiiexx:v:41:y:2009:i:6:p:575-591
    DOI: 10.1080/07408170802510416
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    Cited by:

    1. Gary M. Gaukler & Chenhua Li & Yu Ding & Sunil S. Chirayath, 2012. "Detecting Nuclear Materials Smuggling: Performance Evaluation of Container Inspection Policies," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 531-554, March.
    2. Nie, Xiaofeng & Parab, Gautam & Batta, Rajan & Lin, Li, 2012. "Simulation-based Selectee Lane queueing design for passenger checkpoint screening," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 146-155.
    3. Zhonghua Wei & Sinan Chu & Zhengde Huang & Shi Qiu & Qixuan Zhao, 2020. "Optimization Design of X-ray Conveyer Belt Length for Subway Security Check Systems in Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Ajay Sudharshan Satish & Akul Mangal & Prathamesh Churi, 2023. "A systematic review of passenger profiling in airport security system: Taking a potential case study of CAPPS II," Journal of Transportation Security, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-41, December.
    5. Meghan Shanks & Ge Yu & Sheldon H. Jacobson, 2023. "Approximation algorithms for stochastic online matching with reusable resources," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 98(1), pages 43-56, August.
    6. Tianke Feng & Joseph C. Hartman, 2015. "The dynamic and stochastic knapsack Problem with homogeneous‐sized items and postponement options," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(4), pages 267-292, June.
    7. Alexander G. Nikolaev & Sheldon H. Jacobson, 2010. "Technical Note ---Stochastic Sequential Decision-Making with a Random Number of Jobs," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(4-part-1), pages 1023-1027, August.
    8. Wu, Xueqi & Zhou, Shenghai, 2022. "Sequencing and scheduling appointments on multiple servers with stochastic service durations and customer arrivals," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    9. Nie, Xiaofeng, 2019. "The impact of conditional dependence on checked baggage screening," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 278(3), pages 883-893.
    10. Arash Khatibi & Golshid Baharian & Banafsheh Behzad & Sheldon Jacobson, 2015. "Extensions of the sequential stochastic assignment problem," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 82(3), pages 317-340, December.
    11. Laura A. McLay & Adrian J. Lee & Sheldon H. Jacobson, 2010. "Risk-Based Policies for Airport Security Checkpoint Screening," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(3), pages 333-349, August.
    12. Nikoofal, Mohammad E. & Zhuang, Jun, 2015. "On the value of exposure and secrecy of defense system: First-mover advantage vs. robustness," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 246(1), pages 320-330.
    13. Cen Song & Jun Zhuang, 2017. "Two-stage security screening strategies in the face of strategic applicants, congestions and screening errors," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 258(2), pages 237-262, November.

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