A Multiobjective metaheuristic approach for the integrated vehicle and crew scheduling

Abstract

The integrated vehicle and crew scheduling problem is a hard Combinatorial Optimization problem widely studied over the years. Taking into consideration the range of variables related to the planning process of vehicles and drivers, there are several practical characteristics of the problem that are not reflected in the solutions generated computationally. Among these characteristics, that were not found in the consulted literature, the most important is the existence of multiple objectives. This paper aims at presenting a multiobjective approach for the integrated vehicle and crew scheduling problem based on Genetic Algorithms. A case study in Portimão (Portugal) is presented and discussed. Were applied: (i) a Pareto Envelope-based Selection Algorithm II (PESA-II), and (ii) a hybridization between PESA-II and Integer Programming, which were summarized in a table. These results indicate that this new approach has a considerable potential for achieving significant gains in terms of operation costs and reduction in planning times.