Multimodal Transport Network Optimization Considering Port Competition And Cooperation And Hinterland Transport Route Choice

To enhance competitiveness,ports have designed multimodal transport network in hinterland and invested in dry ports.However,many ports didn't consider the competition of adjacent ports when designing multimodal transport network,resulting in overlapping dry port location and a great waste of fund.To coordinate the development of regional ports,governments have promoted port cooperation with the help of port operation enterprises.Cooperative ports can jointly use dry port infrastructures,optimize the layout of dry ports so as to lower the operation cost of their multimodal transport network.As users of multimodal transport network,shippers decide whether to use multimodal transport to transport their good to a certain port.Their choices of port,transport mode and dry port have a direct impact on multimodal freight flow.This paper strategically optimizes multimodal transport network considering the competition and cooperation among adjacent ports and the hinterland transport route choice of shippers.Based on related researches,this paper investigates three problems including hinterland transport route choice under port competition,multimodal transport network optimization considering port competition and hinterland transport route choice,multi-period multimodal transport network optimization considering port cooperation and hinterland transport route choice of shippers with different types of cargo.The following results are achieved:(1)A nested logit model is constructed to analyze hinterland transport route choice considering the correlation of stochastic utility terms of inland transport routes to a same port.The model expands the research of hinterland transport route choice,and provides theoretical basis for predicting cargo flow in the multimodal transport network of hinterland.Results show that nested logit model is more accurate than multinomial logit model in describing hinterland transport route choice.When freight shipment size is relatively low,shipper tends to choose road transport.Inland transport cost,transit time and custom clearance time are more valued in multimodal transport than in road transport.Reliability is more valued in road transport than in multimodal transport.(2)A multimodal transport network optimization model with dynamic port competition and hinterland transport route choice is constructed.This model considers sequential dry port location of two competing ports and dry port capacity constraint.The model expands dry port location method under a competitive environment of ports,and provides theoretical basis for competitive ports optimizing their multimodal network.Results show that when the dry port location strategy of one port in Stackelberg equilibrium is its only dominant strategy in Nash game,Stackelberg equilibrium solution would be the same as pure Nash equilibrium solution.Leader port's dry port location strategy in Stackelberg equilibrium could be different from its dominant strategies in Nash game with mixed Nash equilibrium.Dry port location strategy could be affected by port service charge and waiting time.(3)A multi-period multimodal transport network optimization model is built considering port cooperation and hinterland transport route choice by shippers with different cargoes.Dry port capacity and railway shuttle operation between dry ports and ports can be adjusted over time.The difference of hinterland transport route choice by shippers with different cargoes and investment budget in each period are taken into account.The model expands dry port location method under a cooperative environment of ports,and provides theoretical basis for ports dynamically optimizing their multimodal network.Results show that network configuration optimization cost and operation cost,transportation cost and time cost can be saved in multi-period model.Shippers with cargoes requiring high reliability prefer multimodal transport.Service cost and time,handling capability at cooperative ports,and ship calling routes have great influence on port cargo flow and multimodal transport shares.To summarize,this paper can enrich researches on hinterland transport route choice,dry port location,port competition and cooperation,and multimodal network optimization.Besides,it can provide reference for strategically optimizing multimodal transport network for ports in the context of port competition and cooperation,and the development of multimodal transport.