An inland waterway navigation congestion mitigation strategy based on a multi-objective moment bottleneck model

Abstract

The management of ship traffic flow is an important way to mitigate waterway traffic congestion. In this study, the basic bottleneck model with multi-objective moments is extended to address the problem of lock congestion caused by uneven distribution of vessel traffic flow in inland navigation and explore the optimization strategy for balancing vessel traffic flow and realising green shipping. By analysing the interrelationship between port enterprises and carriers, a bottleneck model that can adjust the expected sailing time of ships is proposed. The study analyses the sailing state of ships under different circumstances, calculates the profit and loss of port enterprises adjusting the ship reception time to achieve the optimal staggered state, proposes a corresponding subsidy incentive mechanism, and explores the advantages of heterogeneous ship combinations in staggered peaks. The numerical experiments for the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) show that when ship travelling time meets staggered requirements, no-cost peaking can be achieved by coordinating the number of ships with different desired crossing times; when vessel travel times do not meet staggered requirements, subsidies can effectively promote port enterprises to choose staggered travel patterns. The staggered strategy not only reduces carbon emissions, but also brings additional social benefits.