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CoMobility: Integrating Passenger & Freight Transport

Started May 2024
Lab for Optimising Public Transport

Funder: Technical University of Denmark (PhD Thesis) | Partners: DTU

CoMobility: Synergies in Urban Transport for People and Goods

🏙️ The Challenge

Rapid urbanization and the e-commerce boom have drastically increased transportation demands, exacerbating traffic congestion and environmental issues. Traditional urban planning often treats passenger and freight transport as separate systems. The European Commission's "Green Paper" (2007) highlighted the urgent need to view them as a single logistics system to reduce inefficiencies, vehicle kilometers, and environmental impact.

🚀 The Innovation

This project advances the integration of people and goods transportation through two novel solutions, validated by rigorous mathematical optimization:

1. Shared-Ride with Drones (SARP-D)

We developed a system combining Demand-Responsive Vehicles (DRVs) and Drones:

  • DRVs transport both passengers and parcels, offering flexibility and high capacity.
  • Drones handle fast, low-emission last-mile delivery, bypassing ground traffic.
  • Optimization: We devised an arc-based mixed integer programming model and an Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) metaheuristic capable of solving large-scale instances (up to 200 nodes).

2. Public Transport-Based Crowdshipping

This concept transforms public transport users into "crowdshippers":

  • system: Parcel lockers are installed at public transport stations.
  • Process: Commuters pick up parcels at their origin station and deliver them to lockers at their destination station as part of their daily commute.
  • Validation: A case study in Copenhagen’s Nørrebro district demonstrated the viability of this approach using a locker location and vehicle routing model.

🌍 Impact & Benefits

🚗

Reduced Traffic

Optimizing routes decreases the number of vehicles on the road and total vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT).

🌱

Sustainability

Lower emissions through efficient resource utilization and the use of drones and public transport.

🤝

Equity

Merging logistics with public transport makes services more viable in rural areas.

💎

Efficiency

Shared resources reduce operational costs and open new economic opportunities.

📚 Output

Publications

  • Cheng, R., Fessler, A., Nielsen, O. A., Larsen, A., & Jiang, Y. (2024). Assessing the potential impacts of public transport-based crowdshipping: A case study in a central district of Copenhagen. Frontiers of Engineering Management, 11(4), 697-709.
  • Cheng, R., Jiang, Y., Nielsen, O. A., Pisinger, D., & Van Woensel, T. (2024). Passenger and parcel share-a-ride problem with drones: Models and solutions. In EURO-2024 Copenhagen: 33rd European Conference on Operational Research.
  • Cheng, R., Jiang, Y., & Nielsen, O. A. (2023). Integrated people-and-goods transportation systems: from a literature review to a general framework for future research. Transport Reviews, 43(5), 997-1020.
  • Cheng, R., Jiang, Y., Nielsen, O. A., & Pisinger, D. (2023). An adaptive large neighborhood search metaheuristic for a passenger and parcel share-a-ride problem with drones. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 153, 104203.