Receding-horizon dynamic optimization of port-city traffic interactions over shared urban infrastructure

We introduce a receding-horizon dynamic optimization approach for the real-time efficient management of conflicting traffic flows from a port terminal and urban mobility, in contexts where the port is located within a city center. This common situation typically entails a negative impact on the urban transport network, where the need to share the infrastructure causes issues both to the logistic and mobility flows. For the purpose of mitigating the negative impact, we formalize a model-predictive control scheme based on an integrated model of the port-city environment, focusing on the import and export chains in proximity of the terminal where trucks and general mobility vehicles interact. By exploiting available forecasts on mobility demand and container traffic, together with the coordinated action of perimetral and gate control, our proposed scheme aims at optimizing a desired performance index reflecting the interests of the involved stakeholders. Simulation results are presented regarding a context based on the port of Genova in north-west Italy, showcasing the ability of the proposed receding-horizon scheme to manage complex situations such as bottlenecks and transitions to mobility rush hours.We introduce a receding-horizon dynamic optimization approach for the real-time efficient management of conflicting traffic flows from a port terminal and urban mobility, in contexts where the port is located within a city center. This common situation typically entails a negative impact on the urban transport network,where the need to share the infrastructure causes issues both to the logistic and mobility flows. For the purpose of mitigating the negative impact, we formalize a model-predictive control scheme based on an integrated model of the port-city environment, focusing on the import and export chains in proximity of the terminal where trucks and general mobility vehicles interact. By exploiting available forecasts on mobility demand and container traffic, together with the coordinated action of perimetral and gate control, our proposed scheme aims at optimizing a desired performance index reflecting the interests of the involved stakeholders. Simulationr esults are presented regarding a context based on the port of Genova in north-west Italy, showcasing the ability of the proposed receding-horizon scheme to manage complex situations such as bottlenecks and transitions to mobility rush hours.