Sustainable urban logistics systems taking into account the development of information and communication technology

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Models for urban vehicle routing and scheduling with time windows were developed both for conventional situation without e-commerce and new situation with e-commerce. The deployment of e-commerce is to increase demand for delivering goods to individual home and moreover, strict time windows of home delivery accelerates the increase of freight transport in urban areas. It was found that to prevent such situation and decrease negative impacts on the environment, city logistics measures including co-operative freight transport systems, grouping of time windows, set up of pickup points were effective in terms of the reduction of total costs, total running times, NOx emissions.Vehicle Routing and scheduling Problem with Time Window-Probabilistic (VRPTW-P) model was formulated using link travel time distribution which can be provided by sophisticated traffic information systems such as VICS (Vehicle Information Communication Systems). The model was applied to road network and approximate opt … More imal solution was identified using genetic algorithms. The comparison of the approximate optimal solution and usual operation of vehicles showed that the VRPTW-P model can reduce not only the average value of total costs, but also the standard deviation of them. Moreover, emissions of NOx,CO_2 and PM (Particle Materials) can be reduced by applying VRPTW-P model.Models were formulated for logistical matching systems which allow shippers who have goods to be transported and freight carriers who have vacant space of trucks, using three matching methods : (a)auction, (b)minimization of the increase of running times of trucks, and (c)co-operative freight transport systems. After the models were applied to test road network, results showed that in any models, total costs of freight carriers as well as total running times of trucks can be reduced. It leads to efficient use of trucks and reduction of negative impacts on the environment.Therefore, use of these advanced information and communication systems can facilitate sustainable urban freight transport systems. Less