An Agent-based Approach to Last-Mile Parcel Delivery in Urban Contexts

Sarah Wise
University College London

Even before the global Covid-19 pandemic, recent years have seen an explosion in the demand for deliveries. The ever-increasing volume of shipments has had consequences for local communities in terms of road congestion, safety, and pollution. In the face of efforts to move beyond diesel-based freight, there is a huge demand for new modes of delivery. Agent-based modelling can be used to explore how novel approaches to delivery might work within real contexts, and what tradeoffs may exist for freight companies and cities seeking to reach an agreement.

Speaker bio: Dr Sarah Wise is an associate professor in Agent-based Modelling in the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis of University College London. Her research interests centre around exploring and forecasting the development of systems involving people, infrastructure, social network analysis, data mining, statistical analysis and geographic information systems. Her current work is a collaboration with humanitarian partners, exploring the ways that human behaviour and transportation networks can combine to influence the development and spread of Ebola epidemics.