Automated goods distribution planning under complex urban environments

道路拥堵是城市中的一个严重问题。司机们要花几个小时才能避开城市的交通。对于物流运营商来说，情况更糟，他们的收入是基于向客户准时交付货物。他们往往不得不提前承诺，如果道路长期拥堵，总是很难在交货截止日期前完成交货。在这方面，单件货物的分发可以被视为潜在的帮助。近年来，各城市推出了几项试点举措。这些举措旨在改善流动性，减少拥堵，促进城市中的货物流动，对居民及其环境的影响最小。例如，蒙特利尔和纽约已经在居民区设立了自主试点。新加坡大学和艾伯塔省正在大学校园进行测试，亚马逊和UPS等公司也加入了车队送货的竞争，投资于自动驾驶卡车、互联物流系统等。这些系统也非常适用于医院区域、国防后勤和孤立的北部社区，这些社区不断受到极端交通条件和事件的影响。自动驾驶车辆可以通过有效的运营规划，确保在这些条件下顺利交付。从研究和实践的角度来看，这项研究对理解拥堵如何影响物流运作，以及如何在考虑历史和实时交通拥堵情况的情况下智能地规划物流运作具有重要影响。这将带来三个好处。首先，通过使用高效的列车路线和送货时刻表，为运输运营商带来经济利益。第二，通过有效利用车辆资源为城市带来环境收益，即提高负载率，最大限度地减少空车出行，使用清洁车队(电动、混合动力)，政策管理，以及有效的规划战略，以缓解拥堵，并最终通过合理使用公共空间、减少拥堵和驾驶员压力、改善空气质量和提高生活质量，为社会带来好处。拟议的研究计划将在城市物流领域培训7名高素质的员工(4名硕士学生和3名博士生)，以创造魁北克在该研究领域的竞争优势。

Road congestion is a serious problem in cities. Drivers spend hours getting out of city traffic. The situation is worse for logistics operators whose revenues are based on the on-time delivery of goods to customers. They often have to commit in advance and it is always difficult to meet delivery deadlines in the event of prolonged congestion on the roads. The distribution of stand-alone goods can be seen as a potential help in this regard. Several pilot initiatives have been launched in recent years by cities. These initiatives aim to improve mobility, reduce congestion and facilitate the movement of goods in cities, with the least impact on residents and their environment. For example, the cities of Montreal and New York have set up autonomous pilots in residential areas. The University of Singapore and Alberta are testing it on college campuses, and companies like Amazon and UPS are joining the race for fleet deliveries by investing in self-driving trucks, connected logistics systems, and more. These systems are also very applicable in hospital areas, defense logistics and isolated northern communities which are constantly subjected to extreme traffic conditions and incidents. Autonomous vehicles can ensure smooth delivery under these conditions through effective planning of operations. From both research and practical perspectives, the proposed research has significant influence on understanding how congestion affects logistics operations and how they should be planned intelligently, taking into account account for historical and real-time traffic congestion situations. This will result in three benefits. First, economic benefits for transport operators through the use of efficient train paths and delivery schedules. Second, environmental gains for the city through efficient use of vehicle resources, i.e. improved load factors, minimization of empty vehicle trips, use of clean vehicle fleets (electric, hybrid), policies management, and effective planning strategies to alleviate congestion and ultimately for society through rational use of public space, reduction of congestion and driver stress, quality air and improving the quality of life. The proposed research program will train seven highly qualified employees (4 master's students and 3 doctoral students) in the field of urban logistics in order to create a competitive advantage for Quebec in this field of research.