A Novel Tourist Trip Design Problem with Stochastic Travel Times and Partial Charging for Battery Electric Vehicles

This study proposes a novel mathematical model for the Multi-Day Tourist Trip Design Problem with Stochastic Travel Time and Partial Charging for Battery Electric Vehicle (MD-TTDP-STT-PCBEV). To the best of our knowledge, no prior study has fully incorporated the use of BEVs into TTDP models. Given the limited driving range of BEVs, the model requires decisions regarding the locations and policy for recharging the vehicle’s battery. The problem also incorporates real-world uncertainty by considering travel time as a random variable subjected to normal distribution. The model is formulated using chance-constraint programming, aiming to find optimal tourist routes for BEVs that maximize tourist satisfaction. Numerical experiments were conducted to compare solutions between stochastic and deterministic environments. Computational experiments using the LINGO optimization solver demonstrated that the total rating scores obtained from the stochastic model with chance-constraint programming were generally lower than those from the deterministic model due to travel time uncertainties. These results highlight the importance of incorporating real-world uncertainty and variability to achieve more accurate and reliable planning.