An exact approach for the multi-depot electric vehicle scheduling problem

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Haslinger, Xenia, Gaar, Elisabeth, Parragh, Sophie N.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Haslinger, Xenia
Gaar, Elisabeth
Parragh, Sophie N.
author_facet Haslinger, Xenia
Gaar, Elisabeth
Parragh, Sophie N.
contents The "avoid - shift - improve" framework and the European Clean Vehicles Directive set the path for improving the efficiency and ultimately decarbonizing the transport sector. While electric buses have already been adopted in several cities, regional bus lines may pose additional challenges due to the potentially longer distances they have to travel. In this work, we model and solve the electric bus scheduling problem, lexicographically minimizing the size of the bus fleet, the number of charging stops, and the total energy consumed, to provide decision support for bus operators planning to replace their diesel-powered fleet with zero emission vehicles. We propose a graph representation which allows partial charging without explicitly relying on time variables and derive 3-index and 2-index mixed-integer linear programming formulations for the multi-depot electric vehicle scheduling problem. While the 3-index model can be solved by an off-the-shelf solver directly, the 2-index model relies on an exponential number of constraints to ensure the correct depot pairing. These are separated in a cutting plane fashion. We propose a set of instances with up to 80 service trips to compare the two approaches, showing that, with a small number of depots, the compact 3-index model performs very well. However, as the number of depots increases the developed branch-and-cut algorithm proves to be of value. These findings not only offer algorithmic insights but the developed approaches also provide actionable guidance for transit agencies and operators, allowing to quantify trade-offs between fleet size, energy efficiency, and infrastructure needs under realistic operational conditions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_13063
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An exact approach for the multi-depot electric vehicle scheduling problem
Haslinger, Xenia
Gaar, Elisabeth
Parragh, Sophie N.
Optimization and Control
Discrete Mathematics
The "avoid - shift - improve" framework and the European Clean Vehicles Directive set the path for improving the efficiency and ultimately decarbonizing the transport sector. While electric buses have already been adopted in several cities, regional bus lines may pose additional challenges due to the potentially longer distances they have to travel. In this work, we model and solve the electric bus scheduling problem, lexicographically minimizing the size of the bus fleet, the number of charging stops, and the total energy consumed, to provide decision support for bus operators planning to replace their diesel-powered fleet with zero emission vehicles. We propose a graph representation which allows partial charging without explicitly relying on time variables and derive 3-index and 2-index mixed-integer linear programming formulations for the multi-depot electric vehicle scheduling problem. While the 3-index model can be solved by an off-the-shelf solver directly, the 2-index model relies on an exponential number of constraints to ensure the correct depot pairing. These are separated in a cutting plane fashion. We propose a set of instances with up to 80 service trips to compare the two approaches, showing that, with a small number of depots, the compact 3-index model performs very well. However, as the number of depots increases the developed branch-and-cut algorithm proves to be of value. These findings not only offer algorithmic insights but the developed approaches also provide actionable guidance for transit agencies and operators, allowing to quantify trade-offs between fleet size, energy efficiency, and infrastructure needs under realistic operational conditions.
title An exact approach for the multi-depot electric vehicle scheduling problem
topic Optimization and Control
Discrete Mathematics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.13063