A multimodal network design problem for domestic container transportation with short sea shipping

Abstract

With the growing importance of logistic in a green and environmental friendly way, it is widely accepted that short sea shipping (SSS) is a mean to divert the freight traffic from congested corridor in local communities as well as to reduce environmental costs. It can also relieve the problem of traffic congestion and investment on road construction and maintenance. This paper considers a multimodal transportation model for domestic container cargos, in which the flow of container cargos moving between foreign seaports and domestic cities can be transported via domestic seaports using SSS and inland by truck. We propose a two-level strategy in evaluating the various government policies to encourage or regulate the usage of SSS. While the objective of the freight carriers is to minimize its transportation cost, the government could internalize the external cost and invest on the transportation network with considering the cost to the society. A case study with the Taiwan network is performed to illustrate the benefit and performance of the model.