Planning Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft (eVTOL)-Based Package Delivery with Community Noise Impact Considerations

Dr. Bo Zou

Assistant Professor

University of Illinois Chicago

Abstract

The rapid development of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) in recent years suggests a potential to use electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) for package delivery in metropolitan areas. While eVTOL manufacturers and logistics service providers have been actively developing prototype eVTOLs and exploring their potentials in the delivery business, a system thinking about the suitability and ways to operate an eVTOL-based package delivery system remains scarce. A key aspect of the system thinking is the noise impact of eVTOL operations on surrounding communities, which affects public acceptance of eVTOL-based delivery.
In this study, we seek to provide an operational planning framework to prepare AAM to be both economically efficient and community friendly for package delivery. We first develop a method to quantify the community noise impact of an eVTOL operation, based on a proposed “community exposure” measure. Then, a bi-objective integer programming model is formulated which simultaneously optimizes total shipping cost and community noise impact of eVTOL-based operations. The optimization takes into account constraints that may arise from eVTOL-based package delivery including maximum distance for local delivery, package delivery time window, and eVTOL fleet size and carrying capacity. A tailored solution algorithm which augments non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm 2 (NSGA2) with guided generation of initial population of solutions and customized local search heuristics is devised. The model and the algorithm are implemented in a case study in the Chicago metro area. Numerical results reveal the trade-off between the minimization of shipping cost and community noise impact. Several operational insights about eVTOL-based package delivery are obtained. The computational efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are also demonstrated in comparison with alternative solution methods.

Bio

Bo Zou is an associate professor in the Department of Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago. He has also been a visiting associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. Prof. Zou’s research interests focus on technology innovations and their use in and impact on transportation systems. Prof. Zou’s research has been funded by a number of agencies including the World Bank, NSF, NASA, USDOT, and DOE. Currently, he is Director for Technology Transfer and Commercialization for the USDOT-funded Center for Freight Transportation for Efficient & Resilient Supply Chain. Prof. Zou serves a number of roles in the transportation community including as an associate editor for Journal of Air Transport Management and Transportation Letters, an editorial board member of Transportation Research Part B/C/E, and editorial board lead of the TRB Freight Transportation Planning and Logistics (AT015) Committee. Prof. Zou received Ph.D. in civil engineering from UC Berkeley, M.S. in transportation engineering and B.E. in civil engineering from Tsinghua University in China, and Diplôme d’Ingénieur from Ecole Centrale Nantes in France.

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Nathan Nuynh

Professor

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

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Dr. Deb Niemeier

Professor

University of Maryland

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Patrick T. Harker took office on July 1, 2015, as the 11th president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He was reappointed for his second five-year term effective March 1, 2021. In this role, Harker participates on the Federal Open Market Committee, which formulates the nation’s monetary policy.
As an engineer by training, Harker has continued to apply his research and receive patents throughout his career. He considers the effect of automation on the labor force as “the perfect intersection” of engineering and economics. Other technological influences, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, are also playing a part in the Third District’s and the nation’s economy. By focusing on economic mobility, one of the Bank’s research priorities, the Bank’s researchers are looking for ways to create sustained, inclusive growth through practical applications. Targeting such research to the employment field can help workers, communities, and industries plan for inevitable disruptions by connecting workers to training programs while encouraging discussions on the skills that are vital to a constantly changing market.

Before taking office at the Philadelphia Fed, Harker was the 26th president of the University of Delaware. He was also a professor of business administration at the university’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the College of Engineering.

Before joining the University of Delaware in 2007, Harker was dean and Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to being appointed dean in 2000, Harker was the Wharton School’s interim dean and deputy dean as well as the chair of its Operations and Information Management Department. In 1991, he was the youngest faculty member in Wharton’s history to be awarded an endowed professorship as UPS Transportation Professor of the Private Sector. He has published/edited nine books and more than 100 professional articles. From 1996 to 1999, he served as editor-in-chief of the journal Operations Research.

In 2012, Harker was named a fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and a charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He was also named a White House fellow by President George H. W. Bush in 1991 and was a special assistant to FBI Director William S. Sessions from 1991 to 1992.

Harker is a board member of both the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia and its Select Greater Philadelphia Council. He is also a board member at the Science Center in Philadelphia. Previously, he was on the boards of Catholic Relief Services, Pepco Holdings, Inc., and Huntsman Corporation and was a founding member of the board of advisors for Decision Lens, Inc. He was also a nonbanking Class B director of the Philadelphia Fed from 2012 to 2015. Harker has a Ph.D. in civil and urban engineering, an M.A. in economics, and an M.S.E. and B.S.E. in civil engineering, all from the University of Pennsylvania.

The Leon N. Moses Distinguished Lecture in Transportation was named in honor of Professor Emeritus Leon N. Moses for his significant contributions to the field of transportation economics and regional science and for his long and dedicated service to the Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC).

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Registration for Winter 2024 begins

Over the last couple of years, the global logistics community has managed challenges across the first, middle, and final mile. The ongoing global turbulence associated with war-related and lingering Covid-19 disruptions in the supply of various commodities, labor recruitment challenges, and inflation have continued to pressure supply chains and increase volatility on both the demand and supply sides. Economic uncertainty for the feasible future will continue to impact the freight transportation system across every mode and across all geographies. In this essential three-day Executive Education program, Northwestern faculty and industry experts will provide fundamental knowledge and practical insights for managing through these challenges and beyond.
NUTC’s Executive Education Freight Transportation & Logistics program has a proven track record of delivering current and forward-looking insight and actionable knowledge into North American and global transportation and supply chains. From domestic transportation (intermodal, parcel and last mile delivery, rail, third-party logistics, trucking), to international (air cargo, ocean shipping, ports), the three-day program provides unmatched insight into how freight moves. Attendees receive a first-hand look at logistics, and supply chain trends, while learning to leverage freight management technology and data analytics in order to enhance efficiency and ensure resilience within their respective organization.

Program content is thoroughly integrated by instructors, to ensure participants gain a comprehensive understanding and unique perspective of both domestic and international transportation sectors. Program content is interactive, providing numerous networking opportunities and in-depth discussions with faculty and fellow attendees. Prior knowledge and experience in logistics, transportation and supply chain management will benefit attendees, but is not a prerequisite. This year's course is specifically designed for early- to mid-level transportation managers, at both carriers and shippers, seeking to deepen their overall knowledge of the freight transportation ecosystem.

Instructors

Mike Burton – CEO, C&K Trucking

Bill Driegert – Head of Operations and Cofounder, Uber Freight

Eric Jakubowski – Chief Commercial Officer, Anacostia Rail Holdings

Timothy Jones - Owner, Timothy Jones & Associates

Hani Mahmassani - Patterson Transportation Chair & Director, Transportation Center,

Northwestern

Shawn McWhorter - President (Americas Region), Nippon Cargo Airlines

Steven Rothberg - Founding Partner, Mercator International

Ian Savage - Associate Chair and Professor of Instruction in Economics, Northwestern

Joseph L. Schofer -Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

Northwestern

Jan Van Mieghem - Harold L. Stuart Distinguished Professor of Managerial Economics and

Professor of Operations, Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern

Justin Zubrod - Managing Partner, Justin Zubrod & Co.

Course Leadership

Hani Mahmassani - Patterson Transportation Chair & Director, NUTC

Justin Zubrod - Managing Partner, Justin Zubrod & Co.

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Register Now

Over the last couple of years, the global logistics community has managed challenges across the first, middle, and final mile. The ongoing global turbulence associated with war-related and lingering Covid-19 disruptions in the supply of various commodities, labor recruitment challenges, and inflation have continued to pressure supply chains and increase volatility on both the demand and supply sides. Economic uncertainty for the feasible future will continue to impact the freight transportation system across every mode and across all geographies. In this essential three-day Executive Education program, Northwestern faculty and industry experts will provide fundamental knowledge and practical insights for managing through these challenges and beyond.
NUTC’s Executive Education Freight Transportation & Logistics program has a proven track record of delivering current and forward-looking insight and actionable knowledge into North American and global transportation and supply chains. From domestic transportation (intermodal, parcel and last mile delivery, rail, third-party logistics, trucking), to international (air cargo, ocean shipping, ports), the three-day program provides unmatched insight into how freight moves. Attendees receive a first-hand look at logistics, and supply chain trends, while learning to leverage freight management technology and data analytics in order to enhance efficiency and ensure resilience within their respective organization.

Program content is thoroughly integrated by instructors, to ensure participants gain a comprehensive understanding and unique perspective of both domestic and international transportation sectors. Program content is interactive, providing numerous networking opportunities and in-depth discussions with faculty and fellow attendees. Prior knowledge and experience in logistics, transportation and supply chain management will benefit attendees, but is not a prerequisite. This year's course is specifically designed for early- to mid-level transportation managers, at both carriers and shippers, seeking to deepen their overall knowledge of the freight transportation ecosystem.

Instructors

Mike Burton – CEO, C&K Trucking

Bill Driegert – Head of Operations and Cofounder, Uber Freight

Eric Jakubowski – Chief Commercial Officer, Anacostia Rail Holdings

Timothy Jones - Owner, Timothy Jones & Associates

Hani Mahmassani - Patterson Transportation Chair & Director, Transportation Center,

Northwestern

Shawn McWhorter - President (Americas Region), Nippon Cargo Airlines

Steven Rothberg - Founding Partner, Mercator International

Ian Savage - Associate Chair and Professor of Instruction in Economics, Northwestern

Joseph L. Schofer -Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

Northwestern

Jan Van Mieghem - Harold L. Stuart Distinguished Professor of Managerial Economics and

Professor of Operations, Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern

Justin Zubrod - Managing Partner, Justin Zubrod & Co.

Course Leadership

Hani Mahmassani - Patterson Transportation Chair & Director, NUTC

Justin Zubrod - Managing Partner, Justin Zubrod & Co.

Related Info

Register Now

Over the last couple of years, the global logistics community has managed challenges across the first, middle, and final mile. The ongoing global turbulence associated with war-related and lingering Covid-19 disruptions in the supply of various commodities, labor recruitment challenges, and inflation have continued to pressure supply chains and increase volatility on both the demand and supply sides. Economic uncertainty for the feasible future will continue to impact the freight transportation system across every mode and across all geographies. In this essential three-day Executive Education program, Northwestern faculty and industry experts will provide fundamental knowledge and practical insights for managing through these challenges and beyond.
NUTC’s Executive Education Freight Transportation & Logistics program has a proven track record of delivering current and forward-looking insight and actionable knowledge into North American and global transportation and supply chains. From domestic transportation (intermodal, parcel and last mile delivery, rail, third-party logistics, trucking), to international (air cargo, ocean shipping, ports), the three-day program provides unmatched insight into how freight moves. Attendees receive a first-hand look at logistics, and supply chain trends, while learning to leverage freight management technology and data analytics in order to enhance efficiency and ensure resilience within their respective organization.

Program content is thoroughly integrated by instructors, to ensure participants gain a comprehensive understanding and unique perspective of both domestic and international transportation sectors. Program content is interactive, providing numerous networking opportunities and in-depth discussions with faculty and fellow attendees. Prior knowledge and experience in logistics, transportation and supply chain management will benefit attendees, but is not a prerequisite. This year's course is specifically designed for early- to mid-level transportation managers, at both carriers and shippers, seeking to deepen their overall knowledge of the freight transportation ecosystem.

Instructors

Mike Burton – CEO, C&K Trucking

Bill Driegert – Head of Operations and Cofounder, Uber Freight

Eric Jakubowski – Chief Commercial Officer, Anacostia Rail Holdings

Timothy Jones - Owner, Timothy Jones & Associates

Hani Mahmassani - Patterson Transportation Chair & Director, Transportation Center,

Northwestern

Shawn McWhorter - President (Americas Region), Nippon Cargo Airlines

Steven Rothberg - Founding Partner, Mercator International

Ian Savage - Associate Chair and Professor of Instruction in Economics, Northwestern

Joseph L. Schofer -Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

Northwestern

Jan Van Mieghem - Harold L. Stuart Distinguished Professor of Managerial Economics and

Professor of Operations, Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern

Justin Zubrod - Managing Partner, Justin Zubrod & Co.

Course Leadership

Hani Mahmassani - Patterson Transportation Chair & Director, NUTC

Justin Zubrod - Managing Partner, Justin Zubrod & Co.

Related Info

Register Now