Integrated centralised routing mechanism for optimising total travel time

Online vehicle routing is a fascinating and challenging topic in terms of research and functionality. Current approaches to routing generally suffer from two major problems which this paper attempts to resolve. Firstly, current approaches to routing primarily aim at user optimality, which does not lead to total system optimality. In this paper, we have presented the integrated centralised routing mechanism (ICRM), a holistic model that minimises the total travel time of all users via the central traffic control centre (CTCC), as a way to mitigate this problem. Gathering the origin and destination of all vehicles and the flow rates of all routes, the system calculates the optimum routes for all vehicles and directions thereof. The second problem has to do with the effects of the ongoing origin-destination (OD) demands on routing; current approaches show little regard for future demands while it strongly affects travel time. In our proposed model, future OD demands are considered as one of the main inputs of the system. The numerical test points to a significant improvement in total time travel in our proposed model vis-à-vis the existing models.