Dually sustainable urban mobility option: Shared-taxi operations with electric vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) are energy efficient and often presented as a zero-emission transport mode to achieve long-term decarbonization visions in the transport sector. The implementation of a sustainable transportation environment through EV utilization, however, requires the addressing of certain cost and environmental concerns such as limited driving range and battery-charging issues before its full potential can be realized. Nevertheless, a specific type of use of EVs, namely in taxi services, may elicit positive public opinion, as it promises a commitment toward sustainability in urban life. In light of this, this study proposes an integrated approach that combines EV operation with a conceptual design for shared-ride taxi services. As some productivity loss may be naturally expected due to the time spent in charging, it is important to look at whether such performance loss from the passenger and system standpoints can be offset with ingenuity in operational design. In this study, an EV taxi charge-replenishing scheme that can be coupled with a real-time taxi-dispatch algorithm is designed. The proposed EV charging schemes for taxi services are studied via simulations and the effects of the limited driving range and battery-charging details are examined from a system performance viewpoint. The simulation study also reveals illustrative results on the impact of the EV taxi fleet's operation on the charging system. Next, a real-time shared-taxi operation scheme that allows ride sharing with other passengers is proposed to maximize the operational efficiency. The simulation results suggest that the shared-taxi concept can be a viable option to improve on the limitations caused by EV operation. In addition, the importance of projected charging demands and queue delays at different charging locations are also addressed. Some limitations and a future research agenda are also discussed.     

Models for relief routing: Equity, efficiency and efficacy

In humanitarian relief operations, vehicle routing and supply allocation decisions are critically important. Similar routing and allocation decisions are studied for commercial settings where efficiency, in terms of minimizing cost, is the primary objective. Humanitarian relief is complicated by the presence of multiple objectives beyond minimizing cost. Routing and allocation decisions should result in quick and sufficient distribution of relief supplies, with a focus on equitable service to all aid recipients. However, quantifying such goals can be challenging. In this paper, we define and formulate performance metrics in relief distribution. We focus on efficacy (i.e., the extent to which the goals of quick and sufficient distribution are met) and equity (i.e., the extent to which all recipients receive comparable service). We explore how efficiency, efficacy, and equity influence the structure of vehicle routes and the distribution of resources. We identify trends and routing principles for humanitarian relief based on the analytical properties of the resulting problems and a series of computational tests.     

Dynamic routing of time-sensitive air cargo using real-time information

The route planning of time-sensitive air-cargo is becoming more important with the growing air-network congestion and delays. We consider a freight forwarder’s routing of a time-sensitive air-cargo in the presence of real-time and historical information regarding flight availability, departure delays and travel times. A departure delay estimation model is developed to account for real-time information inaccuracy. A novel Markov decision model is formulated and solved with online backward induction. Through synthetic experiments and case studies, we demonstrate that dynamic routing with real-time information can improve delivery reliability and reduce expected cost.     

Hierarchical multi-objective evacuation routing in stadium using ant colony optimization approach

Evacuation planning is a fundamental requirement to ensure that most people can be evacuated to a safe area when a natural accident or an intentional act happens in a stadium environment. The central challenge in evacuation planning is to determine the optimum evacuation routing to safe areas. We describe the evacuation network within a stadium as a hierarchical directed network. We propose a multi-objective optimization approach to solve the evacuation routing problem on the basis of this hierarchical directed network. This problem involves three objectives that need to be achieved simultaneously, such as minimization of total evacuation time, minimization of total evacuation distance and minimal cumulative congestion degrees in an evacuation process. To solve this problem, we designed a modified ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm, implemented it in the MATLAB software environment, and tested it using a stadium at the Wuhan Sports Center in China. We demonstrate that the algorithm can solve the problem, and has a better evacuation performance in terms of organizing evacuees’ space-time paths than the ACO algorithm, the kth shortest path algorithm and the second generation of non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm were used to improve the results from the kth shortest path algorithm.     

蚁群算法在物流配送路径优化问题上的应用

物流配送路径优化是现代物流配送服务的关键环节之一,需要一个快速而有效的求解算法,构建了物流配送路径优化问题的数学模型,并应用蚁群算法加以求解。在模拟试验基础上,得出了蚁群算法对物流配送路径优化问题十分有效的结论,探索出了一条高效求解物流配送路径优化问题的新途径。     

机场地面保障服务车辆协同调度和仿真优化

为实现大型机场地面保障服务高效化、智能化运行管理,通过研究多航班、多种地服车辆、多车场、带容量时间窗的复杂车辆路径规划问题,构建地服资源协同调度模型。结果表明：根据航班到达规律和机位分布情况,基于分解的高维进化算法求解效果较好,得到车辆使用数少、行驶距离短、超出时间窗惩罚函数最小和任务均衡的四维多目标优化问题的调度优化方案;通过Anylogic仿真软件验证,可实现机位占用情况、车辆使用情况动态分配和监控。     

Inductive research in last-mile delivery routing: Introducing the Re-Gifting heuristic

The last-mile problem presents a daunting challenge for many logistics service providers, especially some 7000 small, localized operations for whom the cost of complex software solutions is often prohibitive. As a result, last-mile dispatchers rely on simple heuristics to ensure adequate customer service at an acceptable cost. This research effort extends prior qualitative work by developing and testing a simple vehicle routing heuristic, based on behaviors observed in practice, that prioritizes customer service over cost against other simple vehicle routing heuristics across a variety of environments using simulation. The results support the inclusion of a customer service focus in vehicle routing and the addition of such heuristics to existing algorithm portfolios, specifically in urban areas with well-developed highway systems.     

模糊车辆配送问题的改进蚂蚁算法

模糊车辆配送问题是物流调度领域中一个具有现实意义的多目标FVRP问题。论文针对问题的特性,提出了一种结合启发式初始种群以及推-碰撞-掷规则,并引进了服务紧急程度影响因子的改进蚂蚁算法。实验结果表明,改进蚂蚁算法能够得到较好的模糊车辆配送问题满意解。     

车辆路线安排的一种改进节约算法

首先介绍了求解路线安排的节约算法,指出了其存在的不足,然后提出了一种改进的节约算法,可以更好地解决车辆路线安排问题。