On structural inelasticity of modal substitution in freight transport

At the European level there is an increasing focus on how freight transport can be moved from trucks on roads to more environmentally friendly modes such as rail and ship. A large proportion of the transport services between OD pairs, however, cannot be substituted since there is only one alternative available. The paper investigates the magnitude of this “structural inelasticity” of modal substitution in freight transport due to a sparser layout of rail and ship-based freight networks compared to road. In the analysis we use a recent Scandinavian freight demand model covering more than 800 zones. We find that the structural inelasticity is very significant - in particular for transportation over less than 500 km. Moreover, the inelasticity varies greatly with commodity groups and between OD pairs, and it depends strongly on the port and rail infrastructure. The results suggest that pure charging instruments (road pricing for trucks) in many regions will have limited mode substitution impacts. However, if combined with structural changes in terms of improved infrastructure for rail and ship, impacts may be greater.     

Regional policy issues for rail freight services

This paper presents some of the results of the shortlines research project for Ademe (French agency for the environment) and Predit (French support program for surface transport research). The paper focuses on France, and makes some comparisons with North America and Germany. It is organized in two parts. The first part analyses the notion of “short line” freight railways in the European context. We observe that to date, unlike short lines in North America, which have mostly sought cooperation with major railways, the new rail operators in Europe are competing with the majors. The second part discusses regional policies on rail freight transport. We observe that for some time, local governments in France have been afraid that the on-going reduction of regional rail freight services will increase truck traffic and environmental impacts. Today, however, these governments appear to be more reluctant to promote rail freight activities than they were a few years ago. The current conditions under which local lines operate in Europe and especially in France, including small capacity on the infrastructure and high cost of labor and low productivity, may explain this reluctance.     

Moving freight on public transit: Best practices,challenges, and opportunities

Freight on Transit (FOT) refers to an operational strategy where public transit vehicles and/or infrastructure are used to move freight. Examples include moving goods alongside passengers on buses, attaching cargo trailers to transit vehicles, and operating freight vehicles between trains on subway lines. This paper describes the methods and results of a three-round Delphi study engaging 34 transportation experts to explore challenges and opportunities of FOT and to conceptualize and evaluate potential FOT operations in Toronto. Traditional Delphi methods were used for the exploration of FOT challenges and opportunities, and a modified approach was formulated to integrate experts' opinions and develop new FOT concepts for Toronto. The results support previous claims that technical challenges of FOT may be easier to overcome than institutional barriers. Evaluation of potential FOT operating strategies in Toronto suggests that while the current public transit network does not have capacity to support additional movements, there may be realistic opportunities to include freight service in future projects as a means of offsetting operating costs and reducing the impacts of goods movements.     

Land development implications of the British rail freight renaissance

The post-war era saw a dramatic decline in both the volume and market share of freight transported by rail in Britain. This decline was associated with the closure of thousands of rail freight facilities and reduction by one third in the route mileage of the national railway network. However, as a result of railway privatisation and increasing constraints on the competitiveness of the road haulage industry, the long decline has halted and rail freight traffic is growing. This article reviews the implications of this change for the demand for rail freight facilities and for extra capacity in the railway network, and considers how the land-use planning and transport planning systems might respond.     

A logistical perspective on the potential for modal shift of freight from road to rail in Great Britain

Freight modal shift from road to rail is a potential means by which the negative environmental and social impacts of transport can be reduced. This paper explores recent supply chain changes and assesses their impacts on the mode choice decision-making process, specifically addressing the implications for the use of rail. Despite many of the identified changes effectively making the use of rail more difficult, considerable evidence has been found of the potential for rail to attract new traffic. Much of the identified potential is unlikely to materialise, however, without improvements in rail network capability and capacity and a greater customer focus from rail freight operators.     

Challenges confronting new traction providers of rail freight in Germany

Germany is one of the most liberalised countries in Europe for rail freight. Since the market became deregulated in 1991, 299 companies have obtained licences to haul freight of these approximately 130 actively engage in providing traction, but 85% of the market is still dominated by Railion, the freight arm of DB. Many obstacles to market entry have been identified in the literature since liberalisation. The goal of this paper is to assess if these obstacles persist and what new challenges have arisen. The study, based on a survey of new rail traction providers, suggests that several of the challenges identified in the literature have been overcome, but major problems persist because of the dominance of DB through its control of infrastructure and its market power.     

Adding a freight network to a national interstate input–output model: a TransNIEMO application for California

The state of the nation’s infrastructure is the subject of widespread discussion and comment because it is thought to include many deteriorating and unsafe bridges. Ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, there has been increasing concern over the extent to which an attack on infrastructure could result in serious economic disruption. This research develops a model to analyze the economic consequences of an attack on a major element of the highway network. We add a freight network to a national multiregional economic impact model and make freight traffic flows endogenous. The use of a sub-national interstate model recognizes that most infrastructure planning is at the state level and most political leaders’ interest is local. We base our approach on the National Interstate Economic Model (NIEMO) and refer to an elaboration that we name Transportation network and the National Interstate Economic Model (TransNIEMO). The new model enables us to study the state-specific and industry-specific economic impacts of some significant changes in the nature of highway freight movements. We tested the model for selected freight movements in and out of California. The results are entirely plausible and encourage us to elaborate and test the model for hypothetical disruptions of freight traffic throughout the US.     

高速铁路发展与中国铁路货运

随着中国高速铁路的发展,铁路运输能力快速提升,经济社会快速发展和产业结构优化升级促使高附加值产成品、集装箱等货物运输需求迅猛增长。新形势下,中国铁路货运面临着前所未有的发展机遇,研究高速铁路发展与中国铁路货运具有重要意义。分析中国高速铁路发展对铁路货物运输的影响,介绍中国铁路货运组织创新的一系列举措以及取得的成就,并对客货分线后中国铁路货运的发展战略进行探讨。     

Rail freight and sustainable urban distribution: Potential and practice

How far can rail freight developments reduce lorry movements and promote sustainable urban distribution when planners discard economically infeasible projects? To expand current dedicated bulk long rail hauls, marginally viable, from Plymouth, UK, potential rail traffics must tap capacity to treble output and cut unit costs. Potentially, aggregated inter-county bulk road movements imply viable train hauls from upgraded railhead facilities. Optimal configurations of enhanced loading, storage and processing facilities and port-railhead links proffer reduced ship demurrage costs with upgraded port handling and relocated petroleum-loading facilities creating employment and further reducing lorry movements. However, in practice, non-viable developments are not sustainable.     

Analysis,modeling, and assessing performances of supply chains served by long-distance freight transport corridors

This article deals with an analysis, modeling, and assessing performances of supply chains served by long-distance intercontinental intermodal rail/road- and sea-shipping freight transport corridor(s). For such a purpose, the supply chains are defined and the methodology for assessing their performances under given conditions is developed. The methodology consists of the analytical models of indicators of the operational, economic, environmental and social performances of particular corridors and corresponding supply chains assumed to be dependent on the infrastructural and technical/technological capabilities. The models of particular indicators have been applied according to “what-if” scenario approach to assessing performances of the long-distance intercontinental inland and maritime freight transport corridors spreading between China and Europe in the scope of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “A New Maritime Silk Road” policy initiative. The results prove that the intermodal inland rail/road alternative could act as a serious competitive alternative to its maritime deep-sea counterpart under given conditions. Nevertheless, in order to realize the opportunities, large investments in the inland rail/road infrastructure are required to appropriately connect China with Europe.     

The non-bulk market for rail freight in Great Britain

An increased role for rail freight is an objective of the British government. Limited growth potential exists in rail’s traditional bulk markets, so more non-bulk volume is needed. This paper focuses on non-bulk rail freight activity in Britain, through desk-based research and company interviews. It considers changes in both the intermodal and traditional less-than-trainload (LTL) markets over the last decade. Issues relating to the use of these two types of services are presented, covering the principal opportunities and major constraints. Growth potential for both intermodal and traditional LTL flows is identified, but success is dependent upon important pre-requisites being satisfied.     

高速铁路网规划和运输组织的理论与实践初探

根据高速铁路的技术特征，对高速铁路、城际铁路的线路走向、车站及站场布局、与其他交通方式无缝化衔接、主要通道客货分线运输、旅客列车运输组织协调等因素进行了分析，对高速铁路路网规划、运输组织理论作了初步探讨，并对高速铁路网规划建设和运输组织实践作了简要分析。     

突发大客流在城市轨道交通网络中的传播机理

根据突发大客流在城市轨道交通车站的作业性质和特点,将城市轨道交通网络中的车站分为发生站、换乘站和中间站。在此基础上,通过站台候车区的乘客密度、到达列车的剩余载客能力、站台候车乘客数和乘客上车效率等因素,构建站台候车区乘客密度影响模型和列车运行延误时间模型,并总结出突发大客流在城市轨道交通网络中的传播机理。从车站服务水平和列车运行影响两个方面对突发大客流传播的影响因素及相应的调整措施进行分析。     

The geography of freight-related accidents in the era of E-commerce: Evidence from the Los Angeles metropolitan area

Due to the burgeoning demand for freight movement in the era of e-commerce, freight related road safety threats have been growing in both urban and suburban areas, despite the improved general traffic safety over the past decades. The empirical evidence on how freight trucks related crashes are distributed across neighborhoods and correlated to spatially varying factors is, however, highly limited. This article uses data from the Los Angeles region in 2018 to analyze the spatial patterns of freight trucks related traffic crashes and examines the major factors that contribute to those patterns using spatial econometric models. Maps show that freight trucks related crashes are highly associated with major freight generators but less clustered than the overall traffic crashes. Results from the spatial Durbin model indicate that access to freight generators, economic attributes, land uses, road infrastructure, and road network variables all contribute to the spatial distribution of freight trucks related crashes. The findings could help transport planners understand the dynamics of freight trucks related traffic safety and develop operational measures for mitigating the impacts of growing goods movement on local communities.     

利用Web应用技术搭建铁路货运站服务网

针对当前铁路货运站在货运服务方面存在的问题,结合我国计算机网络的发展应用状况和铁路货运站有关管理信息系统的情况,提出利用Web应用技术搭建铁路货运站服务网的方案。通过为铁路货运站和货主提供一个信息交互平台,以期达到提高货运站的服务质量和工作效率,增强铁路运输企业市场竞争力的目的。     

Freight train scheduling with elastic demand

A train slot selection model based on multicommodity network flow concepts is developed for determining freight train timetables for scheduling rail services along multiple interconnected routes. The model seeks to minimize operating costs incurred by carriers and delays incurred by shippers while ensuring that the schedules and demand levels are mutually consistent. A column generation-based methodology is proposed for train slot selection to meet frequency requirements. This methodology is embedded in a simulation-based iterative framework, where demand for rail services is re-computed in accordance with the train schedule obtained by solving the freight train scheduling problem.     

A freight transport optimization model for integrated network,service, and policy design

This paper presents a freight transport optimization model that simultaneously incorporates multimodal infrastructure, hub-based service network structures, and the various design objectives of multiple actors. The model has been calibrated and validated using real-life data from the case study of hinterland container transport of the Netherlands, where CO₂ pricing, terminal network configuration, and hub-service networks are chosen as the design measures. Policy packages combining multiple types of policies show better network performance as compared with the optimal performance resulting from a single policy type. This illustrates the value of incorporating multiple types of policies simultaneously in freight transport optimization.     

Integrated railways-based policies: The Regional Metro System (RMS) project of Naples and Campania

The Campania Regional Metro System (RMS) project is an example of integrated land-use, infrastructure and operational planning. The whole project is based on the idea of integrating the existing railway lines into a single physical network by building some new links, new stations and new modal interchange facilities. The RMS project integrates also operational components such as service lines, timetables and integrated pricing. In addition to the transit “supply-side” elements, the project includes relevant “demand-side” aspects, including town planning based on the rail network, urban renewal around rail stations and upgraded and new stations with high architectural standards and a new symbolic value. This paper describes the general structure of the project. It also discusses some preliminary results on land-use and modal shift after the implementation of the first stage of the project, which included 43 km of new railways lines, 30 new stations, an integrated timetable and a single integrated ticket.     

Price planning for time-definite less-than-truckload freight services

Price planning simultaneous determines the service demand (with associated prices) and an operational plan to maximize a carrier’s profit. We modeled this integral-constrained concave program in the link formulation and proposed an implicit enumeration embedded with Lagrangian Relaxation upper bounds to determine the optimal prices. Computations on Taiwan’s time-definite less-than-truckload freight market showed that the carrier needs to simultaneously re-evaluate its network capacity while determining prices. The common practice of distance-based pricing that sets price by a base rate over direct shipment distance underestimates operating cost, specifically operating losses for short distance shipments.     

Port choice and freight forwarders

In light of the growing supply chain power of 3PLs and very limited empirical studies on port choice from the freight forwarders’ perspective, this paper tries to evaluate the major factors influencing port choice from the Southeast Asian freight forwarders’ perspective, their decision-making style and port selection process and draw out some policy implications for port operators and authorities. Efficiency is found to be the most important factor followed by shipping frequency, adequate infrastructure and location. Their selection process is complex and a two-stage process and supports the new approach that models ports within the framework of a supply chain.