Abstract
This paper introduces a decision support tool for sustainable intermodal chains with seaborne transport, in which the optimization of a multi-objective model enables conflicting objectives to be handled simultaneously. Through the assessment of ‘door-to-door’ transport in terms of costs, time, and environmental impact, the most suitable maritime route and the optimized fleet are jointly calculated to maximize the opportunities for success of intermodal chains versus trucking. The resolution of the model through NSGA-II algorithms permits to obtain Pareto fronts that offer groups of optimized solutions. This is not only useful to make decisions in the short term, but also to establish long-term strategies through assessment of the frontiers’ behavior obtained when a sensitivity analysis is undertaken. Thus, consequences of transport policies on intermodal performance can be analyzed. A real-life case is studied to test the usefulness of the model. From the application case, not only the most suitable Motorway of the Seas with their optimized fleets are identified for Chile, but also significant general findings are provided for both policy makers and heads of ports to promote the intermodal option regardless of their geographical locations.
Highlights
With the intention of finding alternatives to the congestion problems on European roads, the European Union (EU) has boosted its transport policy based on the idea of intermodality as the most sustainable solution for ‘door-to-door’ transport
Whereas, in the European Union (White Paper: European Transport Policy for 2010), the SSS concept was developing towards motorways of the sea (MoS; from 2001, the SSS along with the intermodal services and the ports being affected by the establishment of intermodal chains), Canada and the United States signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Sharing Short Sea Shipping Information and Experience in 2003 [1]
The model presented in this paper is the result of the integration of successive optimization models for vessels into intermodal chains that were previously developed in the EU context [19,20]
Summary
With the intention of finding alternatives to the congestion problems on European roads, the European Union (EU) has boosted its transport policy based on the idea of intermodality as the most sustainable solution for ‘door-to-door’ transport. The model presented in this paper is the result of the integration of successive optimization models for vessels into intermodal chains that were previously developed in the EU context [19,20] In such a way, the current model offers wider capacities through its ability to suggest sustainable solutions for fleets and maritime routes in different frameworks, beyond the EU context, by overcoming partial attachments. With the nodes of a particular transport network being known (possible origins or destinations of the freight on land), the proposed model is able to suggest the most suitable maritime route and its optimized fleet to establish an intermodal chain with the highest possibility of success against the road alternative.
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