A decision support methodology for increasing the efficiency of the largest border crossing between Europe and Turkey

Kapıkule Border Crossing, the second busiest land border crossing point in the world and the busiest in Europe, has become inadequate to process the increasing number of trucks transporting goods between Europe and Turkey. To address this issue, in a previous study, a detailed process analysis was conducted, a simulation model was developed, and several action plans representing improvement strategies were analyzed and ranked in terms of the daily average number of trucks waiting in the queue to enter and leave the border crossing. However, to increase the efficiency of Kapıkule Border Crossing, the ranking of the action plans should not be solely based on the average number of trucks but should also be evaluated from a much broader perspective taking into account several objectives that are generally in conflict with each other. Therefore, in this study, we propose a multi-criteria decision support methodology that evaluates these action plans by considering additional attributes; such as investment cost, operations cost, sustainability, border security, and the satisfaction of the beneficiaries, establishing a preference ranking of action plans to improve the capacity of the Border Crossing. Our results have implications for policymakers not only in Turkey but also in the EU.