Progress in decision-making for increasing intermodal transport
The need for high quality information on intermodal transport and appropriate tools for forecasting, policy making and respective evaluation is now more prominent than ever. In this context, the LOGIQ project has aimed to identify the decision-making process for using intermodal transport, including the appropriate actors, criteria and constraints. The main variables that affect the decisions to be taken by the different actors consist of the available infrastructure networks, cost and quality, as well as the institutional and legal framework of the transport chains. During this process, the project helped to indicate the trade-offs between price and quality factors among the different criteria and considering the three actor types (forwarders/road transport companies, shippers and shipping lines). Cost proved to be the most important criterion, whereas, reliability was the most important to ensure quality. In addition, the frequency of offered services and rail operating systems proved to be an important issue in terms of reliability. This information is then used as input to construct the Decision Support System, a tool which can be employed for informing decision-makers of the parameters influencing intermodal transport and assisting them in making choices to increase use of intermodal transport. Such decision-makers could refer to business developers wishing to invest in intermodal transport or offer new services, as well as policy makers for introducing different measures, with the aim to increase the use of intermodal transport. Project web site: http://www.gruppoclas.it/LOGIQ/WEBSITE
