Methods of Forecasting Freight Flows in Planning a Transport Net

Abstract

The authors describe a methodology for planning a future transport net based in expected inter- and intra-regional freight flows. The three steps in the method, using an economic-geography approach, call for determination of expected inter-regional traffic on the basis of planned regional production-and-consumption budgets, determination of intra-regional traffic and its tie-in with inter-regional flows, and distribution of the expected freight flows among existing and planned lines.