Modelling of passenger clearance at the UK Border

More than 100 million passengers per year enter the UK by air, sea and rail. There are dozens of ports each with their own unique characteristics. Border Force play a vital role in protecting security and preventing crime, including high harm activity such as human trafficking. This they must do while minimising the impediment to lawful travellers - in particular, minimising the queues at passport control. The student will work with and build upon an advanced toolkit using bespoke optimisation algorithms which match resource to expected arrival workload. Aspects of the problem which might be investigated include: forecasting demand; maximising resilience to uncertainty in workload; modelling the impact of new technologies; and optimising rostering to meet daily and seasonal demands. This research will help Border Force get the right people to the right place at the right time, which is crucial both to protecting the public and giving travellers an unstressful experience