Optimal one-way and roundtrip journeys design by mixed-integer programming

ABSTRACT

The introduction of multimodal/intermodal networks in transportation problems, especially when considering roundtrips, adds complexity to the models. This article presents two models for the optimization of intermodal trips as a contribution to the integration of transport modes in networks. The first model is devoted to one-way trips while the second one is dedicated to roundtrips. The original contribution of this research to transportation is mainly the consideration of roundtrips in the optimization process of intermodal transport, especially because the transport mode between two nodes on the return trip should be the same as the one on the outward trip if both nodes are visited on the return trip, which is a valuable aspect for transport companies. The mathematical formulations of both models leads to mixed binary linear programs, which is not a common approach for this type of problem. In this article, as well as the model description, computational experience is included to highlight the importance and efficiency of the proposed models, which may provide a valuable tool for transport managers.

KEYWORDS:

• Intermodal transport
• roundtrip
• mixed binary linear programming

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Isabel M. Ribeiro http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6984-2810

Cecília Vale http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2470-9834

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007457 – CONSTRUCT – Institute of R&D in Structures and Construction funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia).