Route entropy based capacity reliability assessment and application in multi-objective satisfactory optimization of logistics network

Capacity reliability assessment and application are emerging active area in transportation science. This paper built assessment model of capacity reliability of road network from the perspective of route entropy by referring to relevant concepts and methods applied in water distribution system. Route entropy represents the uncertainty of route selection of macro traffic flow in a road network. The probability space and calculative model of route entropy were introduced as a new method with regard to the field of capacity reliability research in transportation science. This paper further demonstrated a feasible method for applying resultant capacity reliability in logistics network optimization. The decision of how to optimize a logistics network depends upon several criteria that are sometimes conflicting under a set of constraints. This paper analyzed and modeled the conflicting objectives through forming satisfactory function. The proposed approach captured essential requirements of actual logistics network and considered them synthetically into unified dimension for optimization. Improved genetic algorithm was applied to search solutions, and the applicability and validity of the method were further demonstrated by a numerical example. This paper contributed to the development of capacity reliability theory in transportation science. It may bring some inspiration to relevant scientific researchers and engineers.