Connected Vehicles and Digital Infrastructures: A Framework for Assessing the Port Efficiency

Abstract

In logistics and freight distribution, scheduling and cost efficiency are two crucial issues for transportation companies that look with favour at the innovation introduced by Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Moreover, an infrastructure level of service, safety and environmental defence are important for planners and public administrations. In this sense, terminal capacity and landside operations at the maritime infrastructure represent an interesting task for the community. Thus, this paper contributes to the research by: (i) proposing a generic framework for the integration of autonomous and connected vehicles with physical infrastructures; (ii) evaluating the opportunity to manage traffic arrivals according to vehicles’ priority and testing the effects of the introduction of a buffer zone outside the maritime port; (iii) improving efficiency and security within the terminal area by reducing waiting time and avoiding interference between flows. Moreover, the proposal for a discrete-event simulation model to assess terminal capacity in a ro-ro terminal is presented. Therefore, the paper contributes to some critical aspects towards sustainable development. First, regarding policy measures and actions, it proposes a valuable tool to assess what-if scenarios. Secondly, it represents a step forward in the process of smart corridor design for freight vehicles; in fact, it proposes a tool for managing landside operations at maritime ports and focuses on intervention in solving specific barriers and bottlenecks for freight who cross a ro-ro terminal daily. Furthermore, it offers a viable solution for managing connected vehicles in a context where full automation still needs to be achieved. The results evidenced the framework’s capability to deal with the traffic demand, thus improving the efficiency of the terminal landside operations.

Digital Twin-Enabled Smart Maritime Logistics Management in the Context of Industry 5.0

“…The port, as the hub station and assembly point of water and land transportation, is a vital part of the logistics transportation [86]. As information technology for material operations management and production deployment in ports becomes more accurate, it is a major trend for port infrastructure to be intelligent, digital, and integrated [35,87,88], but at present, there are still pain points such as data silos, high human cost and lack of intelligent scheduling scenarios in the actual operation of ports [89,90]. Thus, the deep integration of cutting-edge information technologies such as digital twin, Internet of Things, cloud computing, and intelligent perception with the port transportation business to create a "digital twin smart port".…”

Autonomous Vehicle-Loading System Simulation and Cost Model Analysis of Roll-On, Roll-Off Port Operations

“…Abourraja et al [33,34] developed a simulation model to evaluate the handling capacity of a RORO terminal under various flow scenarios, enabling the optimization of operations, identification of bottlenecks, resource planning, and providing a practical 'playbook' for operational and strategic decision-making. Belcore et al [35] developed discrete-event simulation to model the landside operations of a RORO terminal, assessing the impact of managerial decisions on loading, unloading, and storage allocation, and evaluating the economic impact and pollutant emissions of each alternative.…”