Initial Solution Constructors for Capacitated Green Vehicle Routing Problem

Viktor Kozák, David Woller, Václav Vávra, Miroslav Kulich

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the initial feasible solution constructions for the Capacitated Green Vehicle Routing Problem (CGVRP). CGVRP is a more challenging variant of the conventional Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), where Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) are limited by their fuel capacity and the scarce availability of Alternative Fueling Stations (AFSs). The problem also imposes a constraint on the maximum carrying capacity of the vehicle. Presented methods can be used as a starting point for more advanced metaheuristics. Some of the methods can be seen as a generalization of the traveling salesmen problem, where one can draw on the numerous techniques described and known in this domain, other methods belong to the class of divide and conquer techniques, where the subproblems are some variants of the VRP. We use a two-phase approach with several different methods for both the initial VRP route construction and the following CGVRP tour validation and repair procedure. The methods are compared on various instances and their advantages are discussed in relation to common variants of the VRP, together with a possibility of their improvements or extensions.