Green Logistics: Assessment of Freight Market Shifts using a Dynamic Intermodal Network Analysis Methodology
Abstract
| Growing interest in sustainable practices and carbon footprint reduction is prompting policy makers to consider greater reliance on rail-based intermodal services in moving goods. We present an intermodal freight network modeling capability, intended for application to large-scale international networks, which allows evaluation of various intermodal service supply strategies under varying operational and policy scenarios. The methodology considers shipper decisions disaggregated to the individual shipment level, and uses a dynamic micro-assignment approach with joint mode, path, service and carrier choice decisions. The methodology is applied to evaluate the market potential for international rail-based intermodal services spanning 11 countries from the Baltic (Scandinavia) to the Mediterranean (Greece) through the Accession countries of the European Union (EU), termed the REORIENT Corridor. Scenarios examined include new services and greater carrier cooperation through collaborative decision-making schemes, as well as improvements in technology and border processing times. |
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Dr. Mahmassani is Director of the Transportation Center, and the William A. Patterson Distinguished Professor in Transportation at Northwestern University, which he joined on September 1, 2007, with joint appointments in the McCormick School of Engineering and the Kellogg School of Management. Previously, he was the Charles Irish Sr. Chaired Professor in Transportation Engineering and Director of the Maryland Transportation Initiative at the University of Maryland. Before that, he served for 20 years on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Mahmassani has nearly 30 years of professional, academic and research experience in the areas of multimodal transportation planning and network modeling, freight and logistics systems analysis, homeland security and emergency systems operations, intelligent transportation systems, econometric modeling and applications to travel and freight demand forecasting, integrated systems management, travel and shipper behavior analysis. Dr. Mahmassani is Associate Editor and past Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Science, and Associate Editor of Transportation Research C (Emerging Technologies), and the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. He serves on several NAS and NRC committees and panels, and is a member of steering committee of ITS America Forum for academia and consultants as well as a former Coordinating Board Member, ITS America. He serves as evaluator and advisor to various university research and academic entities, national research institutes, government research programs, and corporate R&D units. He is a consultant to several companies and government agencies in the areas of intelligent transportation systems, transportation network modeling and simulation, evacuation planning, emergency response and real-time decision making, strategic systems planning, operations and logistics. |
| Contact information: |
| Prof.dr. S.L. van de Velde |
