Intelligent vehicle routing problem solver for simulating urban last-mile logistics

The exponential growth of e-commerce and increasing urbanization have significantly complicated last-mile logistics, making more efficient and sustainable delivery solutions necessary. This study presents a solver for simulating urban last-mile logistics, developed within the framework of the European SENATOR project, which aims to optimize urban logistics. The proposed solution integrates key concepts such as multimodal transportation, time-dependent travel conditions, and driving constraints to enhance delivery efficiency and minimize environmental impact. To evaluate its effectiveness, a pilot study in Zaragoza, Spain, was conducted, simulating three experimental scenarios: 1) Baseline Scenario – Reflecting the current postal delivery operations, 2) Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) – Assessing delivery performance when restricting access to fuel-powered vehicles in the city center, 3) Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC) – Evaluating the impact of centralized parcel distribution. Each scenario was analyzed under three fleet electrification levels (current composition, 50% electrified fleet, and 100% electrified fleet). The results demonstrate how the solver can simulate and quantify the operational impact of different policies on an urban logistics distributor, such as the implementation of zero-emission zones (leading to fewer packages delivered and an increase in total distance traveled). Furthermore, it shows how this impact varies with different levels of fleet electrification (higher electrification results in a lower negative impact on operations). Furthermore, the developed tool highlights how an urban consolidation center can help reduce the distance traveled by logistics vehicles and, consequently, their emissions.