A system of mobile service units for the large-scale event industry: an implementation for the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Fadel M.Y. Othman
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University
2003
Abstract:
The success of the large-scale event industry, which deals with managing events such as Olympiads and occasional mass tourism, depends mainly on two factors: the quality of the program, and the quality of the facilities and services provided. The mega-event of the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia, currently attracts more than two million visitors from all over the world for about two weeks; generating a huge demand for services, for short periods, at four nearby pilgrimage cities.
Therefore, in order to enhance the feasibility, availability, and the quality of services for the Hajj of the future, a system of Mobile Service Units (MSUs) is proposed, instead of fixed service centres, to serve the expected 4.8 million pilgrims by year 2025. A Multi-disciplinary engineering approach has been used to investigate the proposed system of Mobile Service Units in macroscopic and microscopic scales on the light of the new master plan for the cities of the Hajj.
A survey (questionnaire) was conducted to investigate the opinions of service providers (297 respondents) to be considered. Various designs and configurations were developed to investigate the ability to construct the proposed system. Modelling and simulation of the system were used to develop and to investigate the operation and the control for the system and its effect on the mass transportation of pilgrims during the Hajj.
It is found that whilst the service providers consider the current services relatively sufficient, they are enthusiastic regarding implementing the proposed Mobile Service Units for the Hajj of the future.
They contributed actively in determining 44 types of services that they considered as feasible to be mobile and highlighted their concerns, which are resolved by the findings of this research and the master plan for the cities of the Hajj.
The possibility of making the proposed system of MSUs has been confirmed from many perspectives. The web search has revealed that many mobile services are available commercially and special MSUs could be built using existing technology.
More MSUs designs and configurations are proposed and various urban design layouts have demonstrated their integration with the master plan of the cities of the Hajj. Moreover, an abundant and low-cost resource for making MSUs is identified by recycling out-of-service buses used for the Hajj, and modular extension units are proposed to simplify converting these buses to spacious MSUs.
Simulation results have identified the proper service capacities for the proposed MSUs. An approach for Just-In-Time MSUs (JIT-MSUs) is shown, by simulation, as feasible to control the proposed system of MSUs, through an online control of the orders to move MSUs to provide the right services, at the right place, at the right time; achieving higher efficiency and utilization of resources.
A Fuzzy Logic method is used, on a microscopic scale to issue requests for MSUs according to local situations; and on a macroscopic scale to evaluate all requests according to global conditions relating to the system as a whole.
Simulation results confirm that MSUs will not affect the mass transportation of pilgrims as they make use of the unused capacity of the Shuttle Buses road networks. Simulation results also show that a significant reduction in resources, and a high increase in profit, compared with fixed services can be achieved using the proposed MSUs.
It is concluded that, the proposed system of MSUs is technically, operationally and economically viable and expected to contribute to the success of the mega-event of the Hajj throughout providing an adequate amount of a wide variety of quality facilities and services, at all locations, whenever needed, without increasing the cost of services.
Further studies for establishing the proposed system of MSUs for the Hall and integrating it with the Shuttle Buses transportation system, according to the master plan of the cities of the Hajj, are suggested.
Therefore, in order to enhance the feasibility, availability, and the quality of services for the Hajj of the future, a system of Mobile Service Units (MSUs) is proposed, instead of fixed service centres, to serve the expected 4.8 million pilgrims by year 2025. A Multi-disciplinary engineering approach has been used to investigate the proposed system of Mobile Service Units in macroscopic and microscopic scales on the light of the new master plan for the cities of the Hajj.
A survey (questionnaire) was conducted to investigate the opinions of service providers (297 respondents) to be considered. Various designs and configurations were developed to investigate the ability to construct the proposed system. Modelling and simulation of the system were used to develop and to investigate the operation and the control for the system and its effect on the mass transportation of pilgrims during the Hajj.
It is found that whilst the service providers consider the current services relatively sufficient, they are enthusiastic regarding implementing the proposed Mobile Service Units for the Hajj of the future.
They contributed actively in determining 44 types of services that they considered as feasible to be mobile and highlighted their concerns, which are resolved by the findings of this research and the master plan for the cities of the Hajj.
The possibility of making the proposed system of MSUs has been confirmed from many perspectives. The web search has revealed that many mobile services are available commercially and special MSUs could be built using existing technology.
More MSUs designs and configurations are proposed and various urban design layouts have demonstrated their integration with the master plan of the cities of the Hajj. Moreover, an abundant and low-cost resource for making MSUs is identified by recycling out-of-service buses used for the Hajj, and modular extension units are proposed to simplify converting these buses to spacious MSUs.
Simulation results have identified the proper service capacities for the proposed MSUs. An approach for Just-In-Time MSUs (JIT-MSUs) is shown, by simulation, as feasible to control the proposed system of MSUs, through an online control of the orders to move MSUs to provide the right services, at the right place, at the right time; achieving higher efficiency and utilization of resources.
A Fuzzy Logic method is used, on a microscopic scale to issue requests for MSUs according to local situations; and on a macroscopic scale to evaluate all requests according to global conditions relating to the system as a whole.
Simulation results confirm that MSUs will not affect the mass transportation of pilgrims as they make use of the unused capacity of the Shuttle Buses road networks. Simulation results also show that a significant reduction in resources, and a high increase in profit, compared with fixed services can be achieved using the proposed MSUs.
It is concluded that, the proposed system of MSUs is technically, operationally and economically viable and expected to contribute to the success of the mega-event of the Hajj throughout providing an adequate amount of a wide variety of quality facilities and services, at all locations, whenever needed, without increasing the cost of services.
Further studies for establishing the proposed system of MSUs for the Hall and integrating it with the Shuttle Buses transportation system, according to the master plan of the cities of the Hajj, are suggested.
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