Eiichi Taniguchi

Kyoto University | Kyodai · Department of Urban Management

The distribution of goods in crowded city centers is a major challenge. In this paper, we propose a methodology for evaluating the performance of a parcel distribution network in city logistics. This methodology encompasses the main entities of a two-tier distribution system made up of carriers, huge shopping centers (multi-tenant buildings) and in...

This research applied Multi-agent Simulation-Adaptive Dynamic Programming based Reinforcement Learning (MAS-ADP based RL) to evaluate Joint Delivery Systems (JDS) in relation to different locations of Urban Consolidation Centres in Yokohama, Japan. The MAS-ADP based RL is capable of replicating the potential actions of modeled agents in an uncertai...

Recently a range of new information based technologies have been developed that create opportunities to implement more integrated and dynamic City Logistics solutions. Sensor networks and demand models can assist in advancing understanding and the prediction the negative impacts of freight on human health that can be used in evaluation. Advances in...

Increased frequency of natural disasters keeps reminding us of the importance of effective pre-planning for the post-disaster situation. Efficient and timely humanitarian logistics can make a difference between life and death of the affected people and reduce trauma. Often marked with limited resources and partially available network capacity, post...

The effects of city logistics solutions are uncertain due to fluctuating demand, parking issues and multiple agents within the system. This research modelled the behavior of freight carriers and an Urban Consolidation Center (UCC) operator using Multi-Agent Simulation-Adaptive Dynamic Programming based Reinforcement Learning (MAS-ADP based RL) to e...

This chapter presents details related to the development of a multi‐agent system (MAS) with adaptive dynamic programing (ADP) (MAS‐ADP). It investigates the performance of the ADP for evaluating urban consolidation centers (UCC) by comparing it with Q‐learning. It was found that ADP performed better in all evaluation criteria (accuracy, stability a...

Urban freight transport activities are related to some typical problems such as traffic congestion, idling and environmental emissions in urban areas. Freight carriers usually look for cost minimization, whereas other city logistics stakeholders aim at improvement of safety and environment. This research extends the definition of the classical vehi...

Recent developments in digital‐based technologies such as sensor networks as well as alternative fuel vehicles such as electric vans present many exciting opportunities for enhancing city logistics. This chapter describes how developments in simulation and optimization models are being applied to facilitate the implementation of contemporary concep...

This chapter presents the concept of an integrated platform with urban consolidation centers (UCCs) and transshipment points (TPs) for innovative city logistics for sustainable and livable cities. The authors conducted surveys of transporters in Tokyo and Bordeaux on the opinions of joint delivery systems using UCC and urban transport systems using...

This chapter presents a multi‐agent simulation model that replicates the behavior of stakeholders, including shippers, freight carriers, administrators, customers and Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC) operators, who are involved in city logistics using reinforcement learning. It applies these multi‐agent models to realistic road networks in Osaka an...

This paper aims at developing and exploring a multi-agent system (MAS) with adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) (MAS-ADP) model to support city logistics stakeholders in their decisions for implementing city logistics measures. Adaptive dynamic programming based learning performs better than other learning techniques when agents need to interact in...

The information revolution is creating both opportunities and challenges for improving the sustainability of urban freight systems. A range of vehicle movement data can now be automatically collected from low cost sensors that are able to assist in improving understanding distribution systems and increasing their efficiency. Vehicle monitoring tech...

This study presents the evaluation and application of the location-routing problem with time windows (LRPTW) in the distribution network. The ordinary location-routing problem is considered one of the integrated logistics system tools extended from the original facility location problem. By adding the time windows into the problem, it provides the...

This study focuses on overall city-wide Urban Road Freight Transport Management (URFTM) including plans and individual measures which are implemented in cities or metropolitan areas. The study attempted to understand the overall picture of URFTM using case studies collected by World Road Association, Technical Committee 2.3 (Freight Transport). The...

This study proposes a branch-and-price algorithm to solve the Location-Routing Problem with Time Windows (LRPTW) which has never been attempted with the exact solutions before. The problem is solved by the simplex algorithm in the master problem and elementary shortest path problems with resource constraint corresponding to column generation in the...

Cet article entend réaliser une analyse sur les liens entre les restrictions d'accès au centre-ville et la performance logistique pour les entreprises de transport de marchandises. En d'autres mots, nous souhaitons étudier par une simulation de scénarios comment la capacité du véhicule de livraison impacte la composition des tournées, et donc leur...

Current barriers to maintaining economies of scale for delivery include far distances of the depots from customers, road usage restrictions, customers' delivery requests, and social, environmental, and economic costs. In many developed and developing countries, the effects of urbanization have increased city population. Such migration to cities is...

This research is aimed at incorporating the social capital, which we defined simply as information flow from government to population and information flow within population, into our agent-based evacuation model. We have considered the importance of social capital based on past disaster lessons of broken communication from key decision makers and t...

This research aims to study road network resilience under the influence of arc flow variation in the event of evacuation after an earthquake. A multi-agent model with mesoscopic traffic flow description is developed. The populations’ choice functions that determine their evacuation decisions include the consideration of social capital in the form o...

This paper presents a supply chain network equilibrium model with the behaviour of multi-tiered suppliers of raw materials and semi-products. Within the model, the decentralised decision-making of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, consumers, freight carriers and suppliers on supply chain networks (SCNs) is incorporated, with its interaction be...

This paper describes the findings of the research conducted by the authors on the humanitarian logistic efforts after the cascading disasters that impacted the Tohoku region after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11th, 2011. Using a combination of in depth interviews with participants in the relief efforts and meta analyses of news accounts...

Urban goods movement and urban logistics started to be defined as a scientific discipline 20 years ago, where several actions in research, development, policy and deployment were started to be coordinated. However, most of the innovations and projects presented in that field are stopped or reduced because of a common constraint that becomes its wor...

This paper presents concepts of city logistics for sustainable and liveable cities. City logistics can contribute to create more efficient and environmentally friendly urban freight transport systems. The application of innovative technologies of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), the change in m...

Unlike normal traffic incidents, incidents involving hazardous material are associated with significant traffic delays. The model of the hazardous material routing and scheduling problem presented in this paper considers such potential effect of a hazardous material incident, in addition to the traditionally considered risk to exposed population. P...

Urban goods movement and urban logistics started to be defined as a scientific discipline 20 years ago, where several actions in research, development, policy and deployment were started to be coordinated. However, most of the innovations and projects presented in that field are stopped or reduced because of a common constraint that becomes its wor...

This paper presents an application of the exact solution approach for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Soft Time Windows based on the column generation scheme developed earlier by the authors, for evaluating a truck ban scheme from the environmental improvement aspect on a realistic logistics instance based on the Vehicle Information and Communicat...

Government road authorities are constantly faced with the challenges of urbanization and traffic congestion requiring them to make good decisions for infrastructure developments. Several developed and developing countries have focused their concerns on building motorways for private and public transports for intercity connectivity and economic grow...

Management of debris is a concern after any major disaster. In particular, debris removal after a disaster presents challenges unique to that disaster. Often, the debris removal process takes months or even years to finish. It is likely to be a concern for some time to come since there exists many factors that make it such a costly and complex oper...

This paper presents a Pareto-based bi-objective optimization of hazardous materials vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time windows and shows its application to a realistic hazardous material logistics instance. A meta-heuristic solution algorithm is also proposed, which returns a set of routing solutions that approximate the frontier of t...

This article aims to identify some commonalities and differences in intermodal freight in France and Japan, focusing on urban zones. This comparison puts into perspective two spatial situations linked with land pressure. It helps us identify opportunities for knowledge transfer of best practices for the promotion of modal shift and for land use and...

Just-In-Time (JIT) is a cost-effective philosophy, that was first implemented by Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation. Once successfully implemented, the JIT concept has been widely applied by numerous firms in several areas of specialization. This paper demonstrates how the JIT concept can be implemented in urban freight transport. A franchise of conv...

This paper presents the Multi-Agent System (MAS) model for evaluating city logistics measures like the joint delivery systems and car parking management. This research is directed at evaluating possible measures that will provide logistics efficiency in a city faced with congested urban traffic conditions. The focus of the study is on the interacti...

This paper describes the use of the multi-agent systems (MAS) modelling approach, incorporated with reinforcement learning models, that is experimented on a part of Osaka road network with ITS-based travel time information. The MAS model included an exact solution method to solve the vehicle routing problem of carriers’ delivery jobs and is used to...

This paper presents environmental analysis of the Pareto optimal solutions of a bi-objective Hazardous material Vehicle Routing and Scheduling Problem with Time Windows (HVRPTW) logistics instance derived from road network of Osaka city, Japan. Environmental emissions of CO2, NOx and SPM corresponding to the Pareto optimal solutions were determined...

Debris removal after disasters presents challenges unique to each disaster. The transportation routing as well as disposal sites issue will be the subject of this study. The uniqueness of debris collection operation is due to the limited access from one section to the other, as a result of the blocked access by debris. Therefore a new constraint i....

In previous research, a route choice behavior model was constructed using trial and error type learning dynamics derived from evolutionary game theory. The model can represent the route choice behavior seen in logistics companies, such as the consideration of daily variations in travel time and variations in travel time due to traffic accidents, th...

In actual society, accurate delivery planning that can deal with both large scale customers and dynamically fluctuating traffic conditions are expected. Therefore, such delivery planning needs a high performance calculation method for approximate solutions that calculates many approximate solutions to deal with various delivery conditions in a shor...

There are many challenges associated with moving goods within cities as urban areas become larger and elderly residents require more healthcare in their homes. Air quality is also impacted by urban freight vehicles. This paper presents a review of recent trends and innovations in modelling city logistics. New techniques for modelling city logistics...

This paper is based on the results of the research carried out by the PIARC Technical Committee B4 (Freight Transport and Inter-Modality, Working Group 3 (Urban freight management) in the 2008 - 2011 research cycle. This paper focuses on the procedure of planning, implementing and evaluating policy measures for urban freight transport. The title of...

This paper introduces the vehicle routing problem with soft time windows (VRPSTW) in which problem definition differs from ones previously defined in literature. Branch-and-price approach is employed, resulting in a set partitioning master problem and its new subproblem. Novel techniques are consequently developed to solve this new subproblem. Expe...

This paper presents a multi-channelled supply chain network equilibrium (SCNE) model with the behaviour of freight carriers, which is developed to represent the trading chain of cocoa in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The model takes into account the behaviour of local collectors, local traders, exporters, and freight carriers. Utilising this SCNE in the low...

In the history of human civilization, for many thousands of years before the era of industrialization and the advent of motorization, there was little difference in size and speed between the carriers for people and those for goods. Because of the relatively slow pace of economic activities and low speed of transport movements, traffic congestion,...

Humanitarian logistics plays a vital role in supplying emergency goods such as water, food and daily commodities to help persons impacted from disasters. This chapter presents details of the humanitarian logistics systems implemented following the Great Tohoku Disasters, “the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake” and subsequent tsunami o...

Introduction Examples of Transport Management Measures for Large Goods Vehicles Types of Goods Vehicle Transport Management Evaluation of the Outcome of Freight Transport Management Measures New Freight Transport Systems Future Prospects References

The large catastrophic events in Haiti and Japan, which occurred in relatively close succession, provide a unique opportunity to enhance post-disaster humanitarian logistic (PD-HL) strategies to respond to catastrophes, and extract lessons to incorporate in future disaster preparation efforts. This article discusses the lessons learned from the Por...

This paper presents a microsimulation-based evaluation of an exact solution approach for the soft time windows variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) that also considers penalties on the late arrival. The exact solution approach of the Dynamic Vehicle Routing and scheduling Problem with Soft Time Windows (D-VRPSTW) is based on the column gene...

This paper presents a review of emerging techniques for enhancing the practical application of city logistics models. A number of models have been applied to practical problems for evaluating policy measures of city logistics. These models can be categorised into two types: optimisation models, and simulation models. Optimisation models incorporate...

This paper presents a discussion on the application of different techniques (e.g. network reliability and logistics concepts) for emergency management. Special attention is given to decision-making support in the context of roading networks before, during and after stress emergency situations. It is understood that the complexity of emergencies can...

Previous modelling attempts show that theoretically the urban distribution centre appears to be successful in many cases, which is in sharp contrast with the real world showing the fact that only 15 out of 200 urban distribution centres are running after 5 years. It can be concluded that modeling approaches do not seem to predict well with respect...

This paper presents a multi-agent systems (MAS) model to evaluate City Logistics measure for an urban road network in an e-commerce delivery system environment. Most notable contribution of this evaluation methodology is the combination of vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time window (VRPTW), auction theory and reinforcement learning in...

Efficient delivery planning for freight transport is required for reducing environmental load and logistical costs. By using an actual traffic condition, a more realistic delivery plan, increased delivery work efficiency, and CO2 reduction will be possible. An algorithm for quickly obtaining a best solution is required to solve actual vehicle routi...

In this study, we developed a route choice model that considered travel time reliability and traffic impediments, including traffic accidents. Based on evolutionary game theory, we designed the model to identify a route that a dispatcher chooses when considering changes in daily route travel times and traffic impediments using measured data. Evolut...

E-commerce is gradually changing the way shoppers acquire goods and services. Shoppers seek ways to purchase goods easily through the Internet, and shippers or producers offer cheap ways to deliver goods to their customers through the services of carriers for home delivery. A theoretical model was established to evaluate city logistics schemes for...

Urban distribution systems typically require carriers to deliver goods to receivers within specified time windows. This paper presents procedures that allow the variable nature of travel times to be incorporated within optimization methods for the vehicle routing problem with time windows. Expressions are presented for determining the penalty costs...

This paper presents a supernetwork equilibrium model integrating supply chain networks with a transport network, namely, a supply chain-transport supernetwork equilibrium model. The model takes into account the behaviour of freight carriers and transport network users to endogenously determine the transport costs generated in the supply chain netwo...

This paper describes an exact solution approach for the Vehicle Routing and scheduling Problem with Soft Time Windows (VRPSTW), and presents its application on a realistic logistics instance based on the VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) data, an ITS application in Japan. Exact solutions of VRPSTW have been compared with those of...

In Japan, the network of urban expressway has been expanding with the development of urban areas. However, the patrol systems in the urban expressway has not been operated on the basis of scientific evidence, but of conformity and experience. It is therefore crucial to efficiently operate such systems, not only to facilitate the rapid recovery of d...

抄録 本研究は，既存の商物一体型モデルを基にして，サプライチェーンネットワーク上の各主体（製造業者，卸売業者，小売業者，消費市場，物流業者）の分権的な意思決定や行動の相互作用を考慮した，商物分離型のサプライチェーンネットワーク均衡モデルを提案し，各主体の意思決定の定式化やサプライチェーンネットワーク全体の均衡条件を示す．また，比較対象の一つとして，卸売業者が介在せず，流通段階が削減された場合のサプライチェーンネットワークについても，均衡モデルの枠組みで定式化を行う．これらのモデルを用いて簡単な数値計算を行うことにより，流通形態の相違がもたらす，物資流動量（商品取引量，生産量，輸送量）やサプライチェーンネットワークの効率性の変化について，基礎的検討を行う．

This paper presents a methodology for evaluating city logistics measures considering the behaviour of several stakeholders associated with urban freight transport using a multi-agent model. The model constructed consists of a learning model and a model for vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time window-forecasted (VRP-TW-F). We used a meth...

This paper presents a new meta-heuristic algorithm using an ant colony system (ACS) for multi-objective optimisation of hazardous material (HAZMAT) transportation. We focus on the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) aspect of HAZMAT transportation problem. A VRPTW formulation considering multiple attributes in application to HAZMAT tr...

This paper investigates vehicle routing and scheduling which includes dynamic and stochastic elements of travel time on links. In order to consider the characteristics of travel time, three shortest path models were used. In the first model, the path is based on average travel time determined using Dijkstra's method (1959). The second model is the...

This paper presents a review on incorporating risks caused by natural and manmade hazards in city logistics modelling. We describe the classification of risks related to city logistics based on the source of difficulty for assessing risks caused by events. Methodologies for modelling risks for urban freight transport are outlined including, stochas...

This paper reflects on a soft time windows variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) that only considers penalties on late arrival while waiting on early arrival is allowed without cost, namely the Vehicle Routing and scheduling Problem with Semi Soft Time Windows (VRPSSTW). A column generation (Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition) based exact optimisat...

This paper presents a methodology for evaluating city logistics initiatives using a dynamic traffic simulation with optimal routing and scheduling. This methodology was applied to a test road network. The performance of three city logistics initiatives, advanced routing and scheduling systems, cooperative freight transport systems and load factor c...

本研究は，行政側の物資流動発生メカニズムや物流施策効果の適切な把握，および，企業側の施策理解に資するための，在庫費用を考慮したサプライチェーンネットワーク均衡モデルを提案する．製造業者，卸売業者，小売業者，消費市場，物流業者の分権的な意思決定や行動の相互作用を考慮した既存モデルに，消費市場での商品需要の不確実性に伴い発生する在庫費用を組み込み，各主体の意思決定の定式化，サプライチェーンネットワーク全体の均衡条件，および，その解法を示す．このモデルを用いて簡単な数値計算を行い，消費需要のばらつきや需要情報の共有が，物資流動量（商品取引量，生産量，輸送量）やサプライチェーンネットワークの効率性に及ぼす影響について，基礎的な考察を行う．