Multi-Level Taxonomy and Critical Review of Eco-Routing Methods

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive four-level taxonomy of eco-routing methods, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and the role of vehicle connectivity, highlighting gaps in large-scale applications and multi-objective optimization.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed taxonomy for eco-routing studies and maps existing models to this framework, emphasizing the importance of vehicle connectivity and identifying research gaps.

Findings

Microscopic models are rarely used for large case studies due to complexity.

Most studies optimize a single objective at a time.

All reviewed studies are based on centralized routing systems.

Abstract

Routing decisions are initially based on minimizing travel time. Nevertheless, eco-routing considers the environmental aspect (e.g. emissions, fuel, and exposure) and was introduced to replace the initial routing concept to mitigate the undesirable impact of transportation systems on the environment. This review paper aims to provide a four level taxonomy and map eco-routing studies to the proposed taxonomy. Furthermore, the strengths and weaknesses of the presented models are summarized. In the literature reviewed, special emphasis was given to the role of vehicle connectivity in eco-routing. The main findings include: the microscopic level of aggregation of the flow and emission/fuel models was rarely employed for large case studies due to the associated complexity; one objective was optimized at a time for a majority of the studies; and all of the reviewed studies were applied in a centralized routing system environment.