Reduction of congestion in transport networks with a fractal structure

Transport Systems (TS) and the processes of movement of goods from the point of origin to destination which take place in those systems determine the competitiveness of companies and businesses using them. Transport networks which make up a TS encompass various modes of transport, e.g., road vehicles, trains, freight cars, containers, material packages, etc. Together, these modes form streams of traffic in the system. Assuming that the structure of a TS network determines its behavior, in this study, we attempt to develop a declarative model which would enable analysis of the relationships between the structure of a TS and its potential behavior. The problem in question boils down to determining sufficient conditions ensuring smooth traffic flow in a transport network with a fractal structure. The proposed approach, which assumes a recursive, fractal network structure, enables rapid prototyping, in polynomial time, of alternative transport routes and associated schedules. An example is used to illustrate the quantitative and qualitative relationships between the morphological characteristics of the investigated TS structures and the functional parameters of the transport processes carried out in them.