Study of channel upgrades and ship choices of river-shipping of port access-transportation

Abstract

This study builds a bi-level programming model to optimize river channel upgrades and liner operation, while minimizing the total cost of container transportation to ports. The upper model determines the optimal channel upgrades, choice of liner size, and liner operating frequency. The sum of the trucking freight, the river liner shipping cost, the CO2 tax payment, and the depreciation of the investments in channel upgrades and ship purchases is calculated based on official projections of freight demand over 30 years. The lower model determines the optimal container routes. A case study of Zhejiang Province shows that Qiantang River and Hangzhou-Ningbo Canal should be upgraded from Level Ⅳ to Level III waterways, while the Meihu and Zhajiasu Lines should be upgraded from Level Ⅴ to Level IV waterways. Due to these improvements, the mode share of river shipping is projected to increase to 30%, while CO2 emissions from container port access transportation are estimated to decrease by 23.5 million tons over 30 years.