Game Theory Driven Tool Enhances Smart Infrastructure Collaboration

To assist operators in a complex, multiregional network proactively deciding when and how to collaborate, researchers from MIT and ETH Zurich have created a novel planning tool that combines cooperation and competition.

Because it includes payoff-sharing and co-investment processes that determine which joint infrastructure projects a stakeholder should participate in with other operators to maximize collective benefits, their architecture is unique.

Mobility stakeholders, including governments, transportation agencies, and businesses, may use the tool to decide whether to work together, how much to invest in joint projects, how to divide profits, and what would happen if they stopped negotiating. Numerical research demonstrates that independent operators can generate more money than they would if they operated entirely non-cooperatively by allocating a portion of their budget to certain shared infrastructure projects.

By enhancing regional train service, the researchers show that co-investment also benefits users in the case of rail operators. According to lead author Mingjia He, a doctoral student at ETH Zurich, this win-win scenario encourages more people to utilize the train, increasing income for operators and lowering emissions from cars.

It usually takes a significant amount of time and money to build transportation infrastructure in a multiregional network. Large-scale infrastructure projects can have a significant influence that extends beyond a single area or operator. Coordination frequently fails since every region has its interests and decision-makers, including local transportation authority.

The researchers used game theory to develop a framework that allows operators to align interests and enhance regional cooperation in a way that benefits everyone to determine the ideal balance between cooperation and competition.