Evaluating CO2 emissions, cost, and service quality trade-offs in an urban delivery system case study

Abstract

a b s t r a c tGrowing pressure to limit greenhouse gas emissions is changing the way businesses operate. This paper presents the trade-offs between cost, service quality (represented by time window guarantees), and emissions of an urban pickup and delivery system under these changing pressures. A model, developed by the authors in ArcGIS, is used to evaluate these trade-offs for a specific case study involving a real fleet with specific operational characteristics. The problem is modeled as an emissions minimization vehicle routing problem with time windows. Analyses of different external policies and internal operational changes provide insight into the impact of these changes on cost, service quality, and emissions. Specific consideration of the influence of time windows, customer density, and vehicle choice are included. The results show a stable relationship between monetary cost and kilograms of CO 2 , with each kilogram of CO 2 associated with a $3.50 increase in cost, illustrating the influence of fuel use on both cost and emissions. In addition, customer density and time window length are strongly correlated with monetary cost and kilograms of CO 2 per order. The addition of 80 customers or extending the time window 100 minutes would save approximately $3.50 and 1 kilogram of CO 2 per order. Lastly, the evaluation of four different fleets illustrates significant environmental and monetary gains can be achieved through the use of hybrid vehicles. The results demonstrate there is not a trade-off between CO 2 emissions and cost, but that these two metrics trend together. This suggests the most effective way to encourage fleet operators to limit emissions is to increase the cost of fuel or CO 2 production, as this is consistent with current incentives that exist to reduce cost, and therefore emissions.

Before-and-After Field Investigation of the Effects on Pollutant Emissions of Replacing a Signal-Controlled Road Intersection with a Roundabout

“…Moreover, the research described in this paper could be extended by considering emissions produced by light and heavy goods' vehicles, in consideration of the growing importance of environmental aspects in the context of urban freight delivery systems [45,46]. Finally, with specific reference to the roundabout, it would be interesting to assess the impact on emissions of conflicting pedestrian flows on intersection crosswalks.…”

Change trends in urban freight delivery: A qualitative inquiry

“…However where these can be mutually supportive; there are opportunities to reduce the carbon intensity of the freight industry. It has previously been reported that CO₂ and cost "trend together" and therefore increasing the cost of fuel is an effective approach to encourage freight companies and drivers to limit their emissions (Wygonik & Goodchild, 2011). Transitioning away from road transport for urban freight deliveries seems unlikely, yet for national delivery, rail could provide a low-carbon option, but the current climate for time sensitive deliveries, along with a lack of political support for rail, might hamper the reintroduction of freight as a major national freight delivery mode in New Zealand.…”

An analytical model for vehicle miles traveled and carbon emissions for goods delivery scenarios

“…The first scenario explored is inspired by the work of Wygonik [32]. A personal vehicle travel scenario is defined as a scenario where a combination truck delivers goods from a regional warehouse to local depots while customers use personal vehicles to drive from their homes to pickup goods from local depots.…”