Abstract This study investigates the potential of modular vehicle concepts and consolidation to increase the efficiency of urban freight and passenger transport. Modularity is achieved by connecting multiple vehicles together to form a platoon. Consolidation is realized by integrating passenger and freight demand in the routing problem. Vehicles are specific for each demand type but can be connected freely, allowing the transport of multiple demand types in the same platoon. The routing problem formulation considers travel time costs, travel distance costs, fleet size costs, and unserved requests costs. The operations are modeled in a novel modular multi-purpose pickup and delivery problem (MMP-PDP) which is solved using CPLEX and Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS). In an extensive scenario study, the potential of the modular vehicle type is explored for different spatial and temporal demand distributions. A parameter study on vehicle capacity, vehicle range and platoon cost saving is performed to assess their influence on efficiency. The experiments indicate a cost saving of 48% due to modularity and an additional 9% due to consolidation. The reduction mainly stems from reduced operating costs and reduced trip duration, while the same number of requests can be served in all cases. Empty vehicle kilometers are reduced by more than 60% by consolidation and modularity. A large-scale case study in Stockholm highlights the practical applicability of the modular transport system. The proposed model and optimization framework can be used by companies and policy makers to identify required fleet sizes, optimal vehicle routes and cost savings due to different types of operation and vehicle technology.

    Highlights Extension of pickup and delivery problem with modular and multi-purpose operations. Extensive scenario study with varying spatial and temporal demand pattern. Total cost savings by over 50%. Reduction of empty vehicle kilometers by over 60%. Reduction of trip duration by more than 60%.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Modular vehicle routing for combined passenger and freight transport


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2023-04-11




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Super VC10 combined passenger/freight transport

    Engineering Index Backfile | 1965



    Requirements for robots in combined passenger/freight transport

    Thiel, Marko / Tjaden, Sandra / Schrick, Manuel et al. | BASE | 2021

    Free access

    Passenger and freight integrated transport vehicle with variable volume

    PANG ZHIFEI / ZHAO HONGXUE / LI XIAO et al. | European Patent Office | 2021

    Free access