Evaluation Model for a Port Hinterland Intermodal Freight Network Considering Environmental Impacts and Capacity Constraints

Abstract

The huge demand for containerized cargo and the low market share of rail and inland waterway transport in the hinterland freight system in China are causing severe traffic congestion and pollution. Therefore, this paper focuses on innovative modeling to evaluate the effects of transport policies on the reduction of carbon emissions and the mode shift from road to low-carbon modes in a three-mode port hinterland freight network. The proposed model can capture the main characteristics of the freight system such as mode transfer at inland terminals, transport capacity and processing capacity constraints, flow-dependent link performance functions, and shippers’ perceptual error of generalized transport costs. The model assumes that shippers choose transport route, mode, and inland terminal at the same time in a user equilibrium manner, and that bundles of container flow passing competing ports follow the logit formulation. Computational results based on the freight network in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China indicate that carbon tax, intermodal transport subsidy, and capacity expansion policies can reduce total carbon emissions and promote mode shift from road transport to rail and inland waterway transport, and policy packages show better network performance compared with a single policy type. It is noted that transport policies sometimes lead to the paradoxical phenomenon. Finally, sensitivity analyses are carried out on parameters of cost, time, carbon emissions, and error to test the robustness of the model.