The Bi-objective k-dissimilar vehicle routing problem

Abstract

This paper deals with the k-dissimilar vehicle routing problem in which a set of k dissimilar alternatives for a Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) has to be determined for a single instance. The tradeoff between minimizing the longest routing alternative and maximizing the minimum dissimilarity between two routing alternatives is investigated. Since short vehicle routings tend to be similar to each other, a conflict of objectives arises. The developed heuristic approach approximates the Pareto set with respect to this tradeoff using a dissimilarity metric based on a grid. The method is tested on benchmark instances of the CVRP and findings are reported.