PONE-D-24-54352Promoting the Modal Shift of Freight from Road to Rail in China An Evolutionary Game and Simulation StudyPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Liu,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Mohamed Rafik N. Qureshi, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

The manuscript entitled "Promoting the Modal Shift of Freight from Road to Rail in China An Evolutionary Game and Simulation Study" should be revised as per the reviewers comments for further action.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: C1) I recommend that authors number their equations. This makes referencing equations easier both in the text and for reviews.

C2) In subchapter 3.1, in the third and fourth equations, which give F(x) and dF(x)/dx, it is recommended to repeat the expected payoff expressions Eτ1 and Eτ2. Only the final forms for F(x) and dF(x)/dt are recommended. The observations are also valid for the corresponding equations in chapters 3.2 and 3.3.

C3) In subchapter 3.1, please check the sign before the parenthesis in the third equation, which gives F(x) in the first square bracket.

C4) At the beginning of chapter 3, we recommend specifying one or more well-known references in games and simulations of the type described below, which show the working algorithm, so that the reader can refer to them for terms of reference and developments.

C5) In Figure 2, please explain VA1, VA2. Similar for VB1, VB2, VC1, VC2, from Figures 3 and 4.

C6) It is good for payments and costs to have specified units of measurement: for example: Rf= 2000? , yuan, dollars, euros? Pag. 19). Also Ges =2000 ?, Gf= 20000 ? If they are dimensionless, specify!

A clarification on this aspect only appears in conclusion 3. It is late. You make the statement at the beginning of the mathematical model and it is clear for the rest of the article.

C7) For the Figure 6: Please explain what the variable on the abscissa, t, is. Is it the current time or a scaled time? What is the unit of measurement of the variable represented on the graphs in Figure 6? The time variable is mentioned in many places in the article. It would be useful, for a better understanding of the simulation, of the process, to explain which of the parameters that appear in the process depend on time, and, if possible, in what way (continuous, discontinuous, with jumps?).

Explaining the role of time in this game can also bring estimates of the period of reaching a state of stability, of the expectations of governments to be able to give up sponsorships.

C8) The conclusions cannot be fully proven, more precisely the statements regarding the speed of stabilization, the rapidity of strategy changes and the response of the participants to the game. Therefore, we suggest an example that includes strategy changes over time, continuously or in steps. Is there an optimal strategy over time, for example for the fastest stabilization?

C9) The sources of numerical data in chapter 4, subchapter 4.1, must be listed in the reference list and cited normally. This is the reason for my answer to question 3. The deficiency is easy to eliminate.

Observations C1)-C9) are the reasons for the answer to question 1 of the review form. Authors should address the issues and, as they see fit, make or not make changes.

The language can be improved (English and the academic language).

Reviewer #2: Dear Authors,

Greetings!

I am pleased to have reviewed the comprehensive study you have submitted to PLOS ONE. Your research is of high quality, but to further enhance the academic quality and publication prospects of the paper, I suggest making the following revisions.

1. Introduction: It is crucial to clearly state the following aspects in the introduction:

- The main research questions;

- The primary objectives of the study;

- The gaps in the literature that this study aims to address;

- The motivation behind the study;

- The innovation and novelty of the study compared to existing work.

2. Sensitivity Analysis of Parameters: In the section on sensitivity analysis of parameters, it is recommended to include analysis of the following more critical parameters:

- The probability of government supervision;

- The penalty for shippers who apply for subsidies but fail to carry out the related freight transport as required;

- The government's investment subsidies for railway companies

3. Article Structure: It is suggested to add some managerial implications after the conclusion to assist in the shift of cargo transportation from road to rail.

4. Grammar and Formatting: There are minor grammatical errors in the paper, and I recommend linguistic polishing to improve the readability of the manuscript.

5. Citation Formatting: There are citation formatting errors in Section 3.4 and Section 4.1. Please carefully proofread and correct these formatting issues.

After the above minor revisions, I will support the publication of this study. I look forward to the improvements in your manuscript and wish you greater success in your research endeavors.

Best regards!

Reviewer #3: The authors have selected a relevant and significant topic, presenting it in a clear manner while demonstrating a solid grasp of the fundamental concepts. They have effectively highlighted the paper's contribution. The technical rigor of the applied processes and statistical methods is satisfactory. My only concern is the discussion section, I recommend elaborating on your results by explaining how they align with or diverge from prior studies. Provide potential explanations for why your findings might support or contradict previous research and explore their implications. This will offer readers a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.

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Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy .

Reviewer #1: Yes:  Petru Cardei

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-24-54352_reviewer.pdf

PONE-D-24-54352R1Promoting the Modal Shift of Freight from Road to Rail in China An Evolutionary Game and Simulation StudyPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Liu,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Mar 13 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org . When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols . Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols .

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Mohamed Rafik N. Qureshi, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments:

The manuscript entitled 'Promoting the Modal Shift of Freight from Road to Rail in China An Evolutionary Game and Simulation Study' needs further revision as per the reviewer's comments.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: I checked the authors' approach to all my observations. I found that the authors responded very kindly to all observations. There were also additions (of course from the other reviewers) in addition. The work is suitable for publication.

The development of the apparatus for improving transport by rail and road is a necessity in the world now. That is why there are many directions for further development and game theory has the most important role. However, the simulation will have to address the side of "dishonest" players at some point. However, the theme of the work is very generous and it would be good to transform it into software that would regulate the organization of transport in certain regions. However, it is necessary to avoid seizing transport management in a region or area, using exclusively a certain software. There must be alternatives.

Reviewer #3: The authors have selected a relevant and significant topic, presenting it clearly and demonstrating a solid grasp of the fundamental concepts. They have effectively highlighted the paper's contribution, and the technical rigor of the applied processes and statistical methods remains satisfactory. However, I noticed that the changes requested regarding the discussion section were not fully addressed. Specifically, I had recommended elaborating on your results by explaining how they align with or diverge from prior studies. Additionally, I suggested providing potential explanations for why your findings might support or contradict previous research and exploring their implications. Unfortunately, these aspects remain insufficiently developed.

I strongly encourage revisiting the discussion section to incorporate these elements. Expanding on how your findings connect to existing literature will not only enhance the robustness of your manuscript but also provide readers with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the topic. Addressing this will greatly strengthen the overall contribution and impact of your work.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy .

Reviewer #1: Yes:  Petru Cardei

Reviewer #3: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org . Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Promoting the Modal Shift of Freight from Road to Rail in China An Evolutionary Game and Simulation Study

PONE-D-24-54352R2

Dear Dr. Liu,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

An invoice will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager®  and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Mohamed Rafik N. Qureshi, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Thank you for the updated version.

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The authors' attempt is a difficult one and obtaining a valuable working tool for transport management is obliged to use the created method over time and improve it. The detection of neglected aspects and the increase in prediction accuracy is linked to the permanent use of the method in railway and road transport monitoring operations. The application of the method must be done on real data and in several geographical areas. I hope that the authors will continue their efforts.

Reviewer #3: Thank you for updating the manuscript. I truly appreciate your efforts and the hard work you have put into it. I have no further comments.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy .

Reviewer #1: Yes:  Petru Cardei

Reviewer #3: No

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