Method of Plotting Fundamental Diagrams of Waterway Traffic Flow—Shipping-Lane Subdivision

Abstract

The difference between waterway traffic and road traffic in terms of lane lines leads to the direct application of the method of plotting the fundamental diagram of road traffic flow to waterway traffic, and it is difficult to reveal the mechanism of waterway traffic flow operations. This study proposes a shipping-lane-subdivision approach to tackle this problem. Additionally, it introduces a more suitable fundamental diagram-plotting method for waterway traffic based on the aforementioned method. The southern channel in the estuary of the Yangtze River was taken as the research water, and the fundamental diagram of traffic flow in this water was plotted to verify the similarities between the fundamental diagram of waterway traffic flow and the fundamental diagram of road traffic flow. Upon evaluating the plotted fundamental diagram, it was determined that the blockage density of the subdivided shipping lane is around 6.5 vessels per nautical mile. This method has significant potential for its application in the theory of waterway traffic flow.