报告时间：12月25日9:30-11:30

报告地点：管楼G506会议室

报告题目：Modeling an On-Demand Meal Delivery System with Human Couriers and Autonomous Vehicles in a Spatial Market

报告摘要

This paper investigates the impacts of introducing autonomous vehicles (AVs) into an on-demand meal delivery system at a strategic level. The proposed model consists of (i) a microscopic physical model describing the delivery process for bundled orders and (ii) a macroscopic network equilibrium model characterizing the interactions among customers, human couriers (HCs), and AVs, as well as couriers’ repositioning behaviors in the market. A tailored algorithm based on the Alternating Direction Method of Multiplier (ADMM) is developed to solve the platform’s optimal pricing and maximize its profit. To investigate the impact of AV operations, we test three AV distribution rules, i.e., distributing AVs evenly in the space (Rule 0), proportional to demand (Rule 1), and inversely proportional to demand (Rule 2). The numerical experiments show that Rule 2 archives the maximum platform profit, along with the highest service throughput and the hourly earning rate of HCs. Nevertheless, the numerical experiments adopting the parameters calibrated by current market conditions show that the employment of AVs does not show significant benefits to the platform or other stake holders. It can only generate a higher platform profit when the AV operation cost is lower than HCs’ hourly earnings in a purely labor-based MDS system. As the AV fleet size expands, the improvement of service quality is rather minor meanwhile the hourly earning of HCs drops substantially.

报告人简介

Dr. Kenan Zhang is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and leads the Laboratory for Human-Oriented Mobility Eco-system (HOMES). Her research focuses on the mathematical modeling, optimization and operations management of urban transportation systems, with special interests in emerging mobility services and technologies.

Kenan obtained her BSc. in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University and MSc. in Architecture-Engineering-Construction Management (AECM) from Carnegie Mellon University. She completed her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (with a focus on Transportation System Analysis and Planning) and a second MSc. in Statistics at Northwestern University. Prior to joining EPFL, Kenan worked as a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich.

Kenan has been recognized with several honors and awards, including CEE Rising Star and Best Dissertation Award by Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA), as well as fellowships and scholarships throughout her study in China and in the U.S. She is a young member in the TRB Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics (ACP 50), and a member in the Early Career Editorial Advisory Board of Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies. She also serves as reviewer and guest editor of multiple top transportation research journals.