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research article

On the optimal micro-hub locations in a multi-modal last-mile delivery system

Stokkink, Patrick
•
Geroliminis, Nikolas  
November 1, 2025
Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review

Last-mile delivery is one of the most polluting parts of the supply chain. This is partially caused by increased congestion in urban areas and repetitive stop-and-go traffic. One possible alternative to this is to use micro-mobility to replace large motorized vehicles. However, these vehicles are usually slower and have lower capacity. In this work, we propose a multi-modal logistics system for last-mile delivery that combines the use of trucks, metro and micro-mobility. This innovative type of system uses the metro to distribute the parcels to micro-hubs across the network and uses micro-mobility only for the final part of the parcel's itinerary from the micro-hub to the front door of the customer. We focus on finding the optimal micro-hub locations in such a system. We use a continuum approximation of the operational and tactical decisions which includes routing of the micro-mobility vehicles. The whole problem is then modeled as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model for the strategic decisions regarding the micro-hubs, which include location, capacity, and fleet-assignment decisions. We evaluate the results of a case study of the city of Madrid, which illustrates that a multi-modal last-mile delivery system can significantly improve a traditional last-mile delivery system in terms of operational costs and pollution.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.tre.2025.104344
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-105012411331

Author(s)
Stokkink, Patrick

Faculteit Techniek, Bestuur en Management, TU Delft

Geroliminis, Nikolas  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Date Issued

2025-11-01

Published in
Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review
Volume

203

Article Number

104344

Subjects

Continuum approximation

•

Last-mile delivery

•

Location problems

•

Mixed integer linear programming

•

Multi-modal transportation

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LUTS  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

DHL

KOIKI

SERI

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Available on Infoscience
August 20, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/253223
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