A fuzzy goal programming model for time, cost, and quality trade-off problem in metro construction projects considering sustainable development

When it comes to sustainable development in a country, transportation plays a significant role. It goes without saying that among various modes of transportation, metro has obtained an outstanding place in the intra-city transportation sector. Thus, accurately assessing the development condition of the urban metro system is inevitable to achieve its sustainable development. Given the importance of this issue, the main purpose of this study is to apply a new fuzzy model to the trade-offs of time, cost, and quality when planning metro construction projects to help achieve sustainable development. This model focuses on three pillars of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental. The research methodology used in this study is a survey and mathematical modelling. For this purpose, a new fuzzy goal programming model is developed. Finally, the model’s efficiency is investigated using sensitivity analysis. For decision-makers, the proposed model provides highly useful results. They are able to fulfil the social and environmental pillars of sustainable development by significantly reducing the completion time and improving the quality of the project. Moreover, by controlling the increase in costs, they can meet the economic pillar. The presented model provides appropriate answers to the problem by the scenarios considered by project managers.