An AI-Driven Approach to Green and Resilient Vehicle Routing: A Comparative Study of Genetic Algorithms and Reinforcement Learning

Authors

  • Ruiqi Gao Beijing Wuzi University, Beijing, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/qsmkb612

Keywords:

Green and Resilient Logistics; Dynamic Vehicle Routing; Carbon Emission Reduction; Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Abstract

Green logistics has emerged as a pivotal pillar of sustainable supply chain management, especially in dynamic and uncertain operational environments. However, existing research rarely integrates green objectives and supply chain resilience into a unified vehicle routing optimization framework, leaving a critical methodological gap for addressing real-world logistics uncertainties. To bridge this gap, this study aims to propose an AI-driven methodological framework for green and resilient vehicle routing, and conducts a comparative evaluation between Genetic Algorithm (GA) and reinforcement learning (RL) based on the Solomon C101 benchmark dataset. The optimization objectives are to minimize total travel distance, operational cost and carbon emissions under vehicle capacity constraints. Furthermore, dynamic disruption scenarios—including node unavailability, demand surges and vehicle breakdowns—are constructed to assess the system resilience performance. Experimental results demonstrate that RL significantly outperforms GA in static baseline scenarios, with stable and consistent solution quality across independent runs. Under dynamic disruptions, RL exhibits superior adaptive capacity with faster recovery speed and steady solution performance, whereas GA presents pronounced solution variability and noticeable performance degradation. These findings validate the effectiveness of reinforcement learning as a robust and scalable solution for realizing green and resilient logistics in dynamic and uncertain environments.

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Published

26-06-2026

How to Cite

Gao, R. (2026). An AI-Driven Approach to Green and Resilient Vehicle Routing: A Comparative Study of Genetic Algorithms and Reinforcement Learning. Highlights in Science, Engineering and Technology, 163, 15-27. https://doi.org/10.54097/qsmkb612