Modelling City Logistics Scenarios in Ecuadorian Big Cities Based on Multi-Objective Two-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problems

Abstract

Classic formulations of the two-echelon vehicle routing problem (2E-VRP) reflect the perspective of a single provider. The lack of coordination between providers executing their individual schedules and, consequently, the lack of a holistic approach to urban traffic may cause further problems. Various stakeholders may have conflicting objectives. This chapter presents a multi-objective formulation of a multi-provider heterogeneous vehicle 2E-VRP from a city government perspective, demonstrating the potential benefit of this approach to all parties involved, simultaneously considering conflicting objectives. Additionally, the design and development of a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) for the formulated problem is presented. An experimental evaluation considering real data from Ecuadorian cities is presented to validate the proposed MOEA, demonstrating that it is capable to find good quality solutions, is scalable, and its solutions are improved throughout its execution.