A hybrid ant colony algorithm was proposed.Because

ant colony algorithm used to solve the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) is easy to fall into local optimum

and the quality of initial population in genetic algorithm affects the effectiveness of the algorithm directly. Firstly

the algorithm introduces the factors of time windows into node selection probability formula of ant colony algorithm to get the initial population. Secondly， the crossover and the mutation were operated to get a better path for the initial population. Applying Matlab environment for hybrid algorithm simulation

the effects on the vehicle utilization and path planning is obvious. It shows the algorithm is efficient

and can avoid falling into local optimum.