Collaborate transport planning and cost allocation

Quantitative models and methods are developed for analysing, designing and evaluating logistics system with respect to collaborative transports among companies, e.g. in city logistics and in forestry transports.

Cost allocation models for collaborative transports describe how optimized costs and revenues are allocated among the participants of the system, and provide a basis for profitability calculations. The model used for transport optimization depends on the application.

For example, in city logistics a route planning model is commonly used, including data describing the infrastructure, customers, vehicle and cost data, as well as a description of transport-related policy measures (restrictions and incentives) applied in the city.

The cost allocation model is based on concepts from cooperative game theory, fulfilling certain fairness criteria. The model includes the costs to be analyzed and describes opportunities and conditions for efficient collaboration between the participants.

Examples of research projects

Pooling: Integration and coordination in forestry transportation planning
Efficient City Logistics – A necessity for both industry and society
Integrated vehicle routing and cost allocation in city logistics
Business models for city logistics

Collaboration

VTI
EI/LiU
Skogforsk (the Forestry Research Institute of Sweden),
Swedish municipalities
Transport companies

Grants

Swedish Energy Agency
Vinnova
TRENoP

Staff

Stefan Engevall

Associate Professor

Transport Analytics

We are currently working with data from stationary radar sensors which measure speed and flow of traffic, GPS data from vehicles driving around urban areas, and mobile phone location data extracted from the mobile phone network.

Railway and public transport

The research group for railway and public transport is interested in developing models and methods, which describe the traffic and can be used as decision support tools.

Sustainable cities

Sustainable urban development is a very broad and topical research area at Linköping University. Research here is multidisciplinary and has many different points of departure - technical, economic and sociological.

KTS

Communications and Transport Systems (KTS)

We contribute to the development of society with research and education in the fields of traffic systems, logistics, communication systems and construction engineering.