A dynamic routing optimization problem considering joint delivery of passengers and parcels

Abstract

With the rapid development of e-commerce, last-mile delivery optimization is important for reduction in logistics cost of e-business enterprises. However, the complex road network structure in various cities makes the last-mile delivery more difficult, which shows high research value. To this end, this paper proposes a special kind of share-a-ride problem (SARP), which uses online car-hailing as a carrier to transport passengers to the distribution centre and courier points to pick up and deliver parcels. The dynamics of the problem is described by designing the key points to update the delivery information; by using an improved genetic algorithm (GA), the problem is solved to realize the goal of minimizing the total cost of three participants (i.e. drivers, passengers and courier companies) and the time penalty costs. Eventually, through simulation example and comparison tests based on three sets of data of different scales, the economic applicability of the problem and the effectiveness of the algorithm are validated.