Operation Management

In February, 1969, NYC was hit hard by a giant snowstorm that dropped 15 inches of snow and paralyzed the city.
See the article Remembering a Snowstorm That Paralyzed the City
This was despite weather forecasts by the National Weather Service of snow changing to rain. It also caused a great deal of political havoc for Mayor Lindsay
Read the following two articles related to the use of operations management in analyzing the problem for better ways to handle future snowfalls.
The first paper The Political Properties of Crystalline H20: Planning for Snow Emergencies in New York analyzes the response of New York City to a major snowstorm in February 9, 1969.
What were the four fundamental strategic questions the city analysts asked in their search for a snow removal solution? Briefly describe the analysis done to answer each question.
What were the two key issues that needed improvement in order to speed up the plowing of streets?
What were the practical changes that needed to be made in order for the plan to succeed?
The second paper “Snow and Ice Removal in an Urban Environment presents a dynamic routing heuristic that enabled the faster spreading of salt.
What is a heuristic as compared to an algorithm?
Explain the heuristic developed to improve the routing of the salt/sand spreader trucks.
How were the spreader trucks routed the old way?
Explain briefly the basic idea of the heuristic proposed in the paper?
Describe briefly four benefits/improvements that the heuristic provided?