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Urban Courier Delivery in a Smart City: The User Learning Process of Travel Costs Enhanced by Emerging Technologies

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  • Francesco Russo

    (Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Delle Infrastrutture e dell’Energia Sostenibile, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Feo di Vito, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy)

  • Antonio Comi

    (Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

This paper surveys urban courier routing, pointing out the learning process of the generalized travel cost enhanced by using innovations related to the introduction of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs, i.e., the internet of things, big data, block chain and artificial intelligence), considering a smart city. Couriers, when planning in advance or choosing the routes in real time for delivering to citizens as well as to business users (including retailers), need to consider both the driving and walking routes (i.e., from the delivery bay to the customers) to optimize their activities. A two-layer literature optimization model is recalled, and the main scientific people-centered challenges that need to be addressed under the light of emerging ICTs are identified and explored, which are the learning process of routing attributes, as well as the opportunity to book on-street delivery bays in advance or in real time. Then, after a literature review on modeling courier activities, a unitary formulation is presented that combines old and real-time network data. In addition, integration with new telematics solutions (i.e., delivery bay booking) is pointed out. Finally, discussions on innovations and cost optimization are presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Russo & Antonio Comi, 2023. "Urban Courier Delivery in a Smart City: The User Learning Process of Travel Costs Enhanced by Emerging Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-12, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16253-:d:1286813
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marisdea Castiglione & Antonio Comi & Rosita De Vincentis & Andreea Dumitru & Marialisa Nigro, 2022. "Delivering in Urban Areas: A Probabilistic-Behavioral Approach for Forecasting the Use of Electric Micromobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-13, July.
    2. Grangier, Philippe & Gendreau, Michel & Lehuédé, Fabien & Rousseau, Louis-Martin, 2016. "An adaptive large neighborhood search for the two-echelon multiple-trip vehicle routing problem with satellite synchronization," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 254(1), pages 80-91.
    3. Massimo Di Gangi & Antonio Polimeni & Orlando Marco Belcore, 2023. "Freight Distribution in Small Islands: Integration between Naval Services and Parcel Lockers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, May.
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