Vehicle Repositioning under Uncertainty

We consider a general multi-period repositioning problem in vehicle-sharing networks such as bicycle-sharing systems, free-float car-sharing systems, and autonomous mobility-on-demand systems. This problem is subject to uncertainties along multiple dimensions – including demand, travel time, and repositioning duration – and faces several operational constraints such as the service level and cost budget. We propose a … Read more

A multicommodity flow model for rerouting and retiming trains in real-time to reduce reactionary delay in complex station areas

By rerouting and retiming trains in real-time, the propagation of reactionary delay in complex station areas can be reduced. In this study, we propose a new optimisation model and solution algorithm that can be used to determine the best combination of route and schedule changes to make. Whilst several models have been proposed to tackle … Read more

Interdependence and Integration among Components of the Airline Scheduling Process: A State-of-the-Art Review

Over the last few decades, the Airline Scheduling Process (ASP) has received an unprecedented attention from airliners and operations research society. Conventionally, the Airline Scheduling Process is decomposed into four sub-problems namely-Schedule Generation, Fleet Assignment, aircraft Routing, and Crew Scheduling which are solved sequentially in order to incorporate tractability and feasibility in the overall process. … Read more

The Multi-Stop Station Location Problem

We introduce the (directed) multi-stop station location problem. The goal is to install stations such that ordered (multi-)sets of stops can be traversed with respect to range restrictions that are reset whenever a station is visited. Applications arise in telecommunications and transportation, e.g., charging station placement problems. The problem generalizes several network optimization problems such … Read more

Mathematical Optimization and Machine Learning for Efficient Urban Traffic

Traffic jams cause economical damage which has been estimated between 10 and 100 billion Euros per year in Germany, also due to inefficient urban traffic. It is currently open how the situation will change with upcoming technological advances in autonomous and electric mobility. On the one hand, autonomous cars may lead to an increased number … Read more

Optimizing Drone-Assisted Last-Mile Deliveries: The Vehicle Routing Problem with Flexible Drones

The ever-widening acceptance and deployment of drones in last-mile distribution continue to increase the need for planning and managing the delivery operations involving drones effectively. Motivated by the growing interest towards drone-assisted last-mile transportation, we study a hybrid delivery system in which (multiple) trucks and (multiple) drones operate in tandem. In particular, we introduce the … Read more

Service Network Design for Same-Day Delivery with Hub Capacity Constraints

We study a new service network design problem for an urban same-day delivery system in which the number of vehicles that can simultaneously load or unload at a hub is limited. Due to the presence of both time constraints for the commodities and capacity constraints at the hubs, it is no longer guaranteed that a … Read more

The two-echelon location-routing problem with time windows: Formulation, branch-and-price, and clustering

In this study, we consider the two-echelon location-routing problem with time windows (2E-LRPTW) to address the strategic and tactical decisions of the urban freight transportation. In the rst echelon, freights are delivered from city distribution centers (CDCs) to intermediate facilities, called satellites, in large batches. In the second echelon, goods are consolidated into smaller vehicles … Read more

A Robust Rolling Horizon Framework for Empty Repositioning

Naturally imbalanced freight flows force consolidation carriers to reposition resources empty. When constructing empty repositioning plans, the cost of repositioning resources empty needs to be weighed against the cost of corrective actions in case of unavailable resources. This is especially challenging given the uncertainty of future demand. We design and implement a robust rolling horizon … Read more

Integrated Pricing and Routing on a Network

We consider an integrated pricing and routing problem on a network. The problem is motivated by applications in freight transportation such as package delivery and less-than-truckload shipping services. The decision maker sets a price for each origin-destination pair of the network, which determines the demand flow that needs to be served. The flows are then … Read more