Automated goods distribution planning under complex urban environments

道路拥挤是城市的一个严重问题。司机们要花好几个小时才能避开城市的车流。对于那些以按时将货物送达客户为收入基础的物流运营商来说，情况更糟。他们通常不得不提前承诺，而且在道路长时间拥堵的情况下，总是很难在最后期限前交货。在这方面，分发独立货物可被视为一个潜在的帮助。近年来，一些城市推出了一些试点举措。这些举措旨在改善流动性，减少拥堵，促进城市货物流动，同时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建立了自动驾驶试点。新加坡大学（University of Singapore）和阿尔伯塔大学（Alberta）正在大学校园里进行测试，亚马逊（Amazon）和联合包裹（UPS）等公司也通过投资自动驾驶卡车、互联物流系统等，加入了车队配送的竞争。这些系统也非常适用于医院、国防后勤和孤立的北部社区，这些社区经常受到极端交通条件和事件的影响。自动驾驶汽车可以通过有效的运营规划，确保在这些条件下顺利送货。从研究和实践的角度来看，所提出的研究对于理解拥堵如何影响物流运营以及如何在考虑历史和实时交通拥堵情况的情况下智能规划物流运营具有重要影响。这将带来三个好处。首先，通过使用高效的列车路线和交货时间表，为运输运营商带来经济效益。其次，通过有效利用车辆资源为城市带来环境效益，即提高载客率、减少空车出行、使用清洁车辆（电动、混合动力）、政策管理和有效的规划策略，通过合理利用公共空间、减少拥堵和驾驶员压力、改善空气质量和提高生活质量，缓解拥堵，最终为社会带来环境效益。拟议的研究项目将在城市物流领域培养7名高素质员工（4名硕士生和3名博士生），以便为魁北克在该研究领域创造竞争优势。

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.