Determining Optimal Locations of Postal Access Points Based on Simulated Annealing

Katarina Mostarac, Petar Mostarac, Zvonko Kavran and Dragana Šarac
Additional contact information
Katarina Mostarac: Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Petar Mostarac: Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Zvonko Kavran: Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Dragana Šarac: Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 106314 Novi Sad, Serbia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-17

Abstract: The development of a sustainable postal system depends on the sustainability of its postal network, especially the organization of the postal access points. Postal service providers around the world face great challenges due to changes in the service trends and in consumer behavior. In this paper, the authors argue the importance of the postal network and its significance in rural areas. Methodologies including advanced search algorithms such as brute force and simulated annealing are proposed for best determining the possible locations of postal access points with no or minimal decrease in service accessibility. To the best of our knowledge, these algorithms are scarcely used for determining postal service accessibility. The results show that the decline of the postal office could significantly affect service accessibility. An analysis of the numbers of access points and their impacts on the postal network is provided, as well as the scenario of an additional access point. This methodology could help postal service providers to better plan network organization and resources. For service users, the application of the methodology adds to better service accessibility that considers the distances traveled.

Keywords: postal network; access points; simulated annealing; geographic information system; service accessibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8635/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8635/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8635-:d:862725

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().