A decision support systems generator for transportation demand forecasting implemented by constraint logic programming

In this paper we propose a framework for a decision support systems (DSS) generator for constrained search problems, implemented by constraint logic programming (CLP). We illustrate this concept by the implementation of a DSS generator for transportation demand forecasting. The user interface of the DSS generator is an intelligent, graphical editor that supports the construction of a specific DSS from basic building blocks. Additional constraints are specified as distinct building blocks, and the constraint solver of the host CLP language is extended with domain-specific constraint manipulation. The design of the system is based on ontological modeling. The originality of our approach, which achieves the transition from custom imperative programming to declarative programming in the field of transportation demand forecasting, consists of the model of the generator, as well as of the constraint logic solver for network flow problems. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.