Abstract
Freight transport is essential to modern urban civilization. No urban area could exist without a powerful freight transport system. However, the distribution of perishable foods in urban areas is seen as a source of problems, due to traffic congestion, time pressures, and environmental impact. In this paper, an Agent-Based Model integrated with Geographic Information Systems (ABM-GIS) is designed for a time-dependent vehicle routing problem with time windows. This simulation model consists of determining the quickest routes to transport fresh products, estimating Vehicle kilometer traveled VKT and vehicle hour traveled VHT where speeds and travel times depend on the time of the day. Based on a case study, analyses of changes on traffic condition were conducted to get an insight into the impact of these changes on cost, service quality represented by the respect of time windows, and carbon emissions. The results reveal that traffic jams and restrictive time windows lead to additional cost, cause delays, and increase co2 emission. As for a short-term planning, time-dependent scheduling algorithm was proposed and assessed while extending time windows. Results have proved the potential saving in cost, travel time, and carbon emission.
Highlights
Freight transport is fundamental to modern urban civilization
This study focused on a time-dependent vehicle routing problem with time windows for distributing perishable foods in urban areas
We propose an Agent-Based simulation Model integrated with the Geographic Information System (ABM-Geographic Information Systems (GIS)) to use real-case while performing distances between customers
Summary
Freight transport is fundamental to modern urban civilization. No urban area could exist without an efficient freight transport system. Considering the demand for high-quality fresh food, transportation requirements for fresh food delivery have been continually increasing in urban areas [1]. The delivery of these goods is perceived as a source of problems. This is owing to specific characteristics of perishable foods, traffic congestion, the increasing requirement of customers in terms of delivery time, and environmental impact. Traffic growth presents a new challenge for carriers in vehicle routing and scheduling to deliver products. Establishing the fastest routes, optimal departure from the distribution center to deliver these time-sensitive products is a major problem encountered by carriers. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: section 2 provides a background on integrating ABM and GIS, section 3 describes the simulation model, section 4 presents the estimation of VKT and VHT, section 5 highlights the impact of congestion, section 6 presents experimental design and results, section 7 introduces the proposed scheduling methods as well as the enhancement they provide, and we end up with a conclusion
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