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This paper develops a methodology to assess transport infrastructure investments and their effects on a Nash equilibria taking into account competition between multiple privatized transport operator types. The operators, including high-speed rail, hub and spoke legacy airlines and low cost carriers, maximize profit functions via prices, frequency and train/plane sizes, given infrastructure provision and costs and environmental charges. The methodology is subsequently applied to all 27 European Union countries, specifically analyzing four of the prioritized Trans-European Networks.

This paper develops a methodology to assess transport infrastructure investments and their effects on a Nash equilibria taking into account competition between multiple privatized transport operator types. The operators, including high-speed rail, hub and spoke legacy airlines and low cost carriers, maximize profit functions via prices, frequency and train/plane sizes, given infrastructure provision and costs and environmental charges. The methodology is subsequently applied to all 27 European Union countries, specifically analyzing four of the prioritized Trans-European Networks.

A physical distribution network can best be analysed and studied as a set of distribution nodes connected chiefly by two kinds of flows: a transportation flow and an informational flow. Co‐ordinating the activities of these two major components is a pre‐requisite for the successful operation of any business enterprise. For unless the company employs its own private carriage, the shipper controls over customer service stops short only at his own dockyard. To be sure, the performance of a transport carrier influences to a large extent the effectiveness of the entire logistics function. For this reason alone, it is not surprising that the selection of an appropriate transport mode and the selection of a given carrier within each mode is indeed an important business decision. Yet, the carrier selection decision has traditionally been characterised by a lack of definitive analysis. In general terms, carrier choices have been based on a combination of rational and emotional motives with emphasis on the latter.

The use of energy by the major modes and the environmental impact of freight transportation is a problem of increasing importance for future transportation policies. This paper aims to study the relative energy efficiency of the major transport modes, setting up an impartial analysis, improving previous literature substantially. Gabrielli and von Karman have studied the relationship between speed and energy consumption of the most common transport modes. From this pioneering activity different methods for evaluating the energetic performance of vehicles have developed. Initially the maximum vehicle power and theoretical performance limits have been calculated in terms of weight and payload. Energy efficiency has then been evaluated in terms of the first principle of thermodynamics as the mass of the vehicle times distance moved divided by thermal energy used. A more effective analysis can be performed both in terms of vehicle life cycle and in terms of second principle considering the quality and the amount of dissipated amount of useful energy. This paper defines an LCA based model, which could allow an effective comparison between different transport modes classifying them in terms of exergy destruction. In this case, an effective comparison, which considers the quality of used energy, can be performed allowing precise politics for a future more effective evaluation of the transport modes.

In the current economical and financial crisis, the economic evaluation of transport infrastructure investment projects is of most importance. Given the need of most governments to reduce spending and control the deficit, having tools that facilitate decision-making seems to be a key objective. This paper examines several high speed lines in Spain, by using the benefit-cost analysis (BCA), in order to obtain more information and determine the social costs and benefits linked to each project. Such analysis allows determining whether costs are higher than benefits, so the net social benefit is positive. Similarly, an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) per project is determined, in order to classify investments with positive BCA. ; En la actual crisis económica y financiera, la evaluación económica de proyectos de inversión en infraestructura de transporte es de mayor importancia. Dada la necesidad de la mayoría de los gobiernos para reducir el gasto y controlar el déficit, contar con herramientas que faciliten la toma de decisiones parece ser un objetivo clave. Este documento examina varias líneas de alta velocidad en España, utilizando el análisis de costo-beneficio (ACB), con el fin de obtener más información y determinar los costos y beneficios sociales relacionados con cada proyecto. Este tipo de análisis permite determinar si los costos son más altos que los beneficios, por lo que el beneficio social neto es positivo. Del mismo modo, a una Tasa Interna de Retorno (TIR) por proyecto se determina, con el fin de clasificar las inversiones con resultados positivos ABC.

At a time when the EU attempts to reduce the negative impact of transport on the environment, meeting demand for long distance travel becomes more and more problematic. To address this problem, the EU and several national governments have opted for a revitalization of European railways and the development of new lines for high-speed trains (HSTs) with the hope that mode substitution "from air to rail" will allow to meet demand for long distance travel at a lower environmental cost. At the same time, the liberalization of air transport has led to a dramatic (quantitative and geographical) development of air services and to their increasing affordability, particularly with the boom of low-cost airlines (LCAs). Yet, the latter are changing the terms of competition and complementarity between HSTs and air services. In this context, the aim of our communication is twofold: 1. On the whole, to check the spectacular dynamic of airline services (number of routes and flights) against the growth and the spatial expansion of European HST services (min. 250 kph). 2. On a selection of city-pairs served by both air and HST services, to show that the volume of air supply often decreases in case of HST competition, but not systematically nor definitively because of the re-cent boom of the LCAs. To achieve this, we will use the results of our PhD on the global dynamic of air services, updating them for the very last years (first objective) thanks to the databases of OAG 1991-2010 (describing the scheduled world air supply in an exhaustive and disaggregated way). For the second objective, we will use the OAG datasets, the maps and timetables published by Thomas Cook and additional data from the rail operators. We will thus identify the European city-pairs connected by HSTs fully or mainly moving on HST lines. For these city-pairs, we will analyse the evolution of the volume of air service in terms of number of flights and seats. We will then interpret the results according to variables such as distance, difference in travel time, frequencies, presence of LCAs, etc.

This study investigates the speed-power relationship of ships, and is based on a combined econometric and naval architectural data-driven model fed with operational data from more than 50,000 noon reports obtained from 88 tankers. It is shown that the speed-power exponent is significantly lower than 3 at speed intervals below the design speed. This finding, including the study itself, affects the environmental discussions related to slow steaming, since it implies that slow steaming will not be as good as often stated. As such, the study imparts attention to speed optimisation, rather than reduction, in the political and environmental debate focused on the reduction of carbon emissions from shipping.

ABSTRACT. In the current economical and financial crisis, the economic evaluation of transport infrastructure investment projects is of most importance. Given the need of most governments to reduce spending and control the deficit, having tools that facilitate decision-making seems to be a key objective. This paper examines several high speed lines in Spain, by using the benefit-cost analysis (BCA), in order to obtain more information and determine the social costs and benefits linked to each project. Such analysis allows determining whether costs are higher than benefits, so the net social benefit is positive. Similarly, an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) per project is determined, in order to classify investments with positive BCA. ; RESUMEN. En la actual crisis económica y financiera, la evaluación económica de proyectos de inversión en infraestructura de transporte es de mayor importancia. Dada la necesidad de la mayoría de los gobiernos para reducir el gasto y controlar el déficit, contar con herramientas que faciliten la toma de decisiones parece ser un objetivo clave. Este documento examina varias líneas de alta velocidad en España, utilizando el análisis de costo-beneficio (ACB), con el fin de obtener más información y determinar los costos y beneficios sociales relacionados con cada proyecto. Este tipo de análisis permite determinar si los costos son más altos que los beneficios, por lo que el beneficio social neto es positivo. Del mismo modo, a una Tasa Interna de Retorno (TIR) por proyecto se determina, con el fin de clasificar las inversiones con resultados positivos ABC.

Rapid urbanization and industrialization in Chinese cities have substantially elevated carbon emissions, and transportation plays a major role in these emissions. Due to data availability, research on the impact of both high-speed rail (HSR) and other urban transportation modes on urban carbon emissions is rare. Using a relatively large panel of 194 Chinese cities from 2008–2013, we examine the impact of HSR, conventional rail, bus, roads, and subways on urban carbon emissions. We further document the interaction of these transport modes with geo-economic variables, and more accurately measure HSR's impact on emissions using a comprehensive accessibility metric. During this time, China developed, constructed and began to operate an extensive HSR network. Our results show that increases in HSR lead to rises in carbon emissions, emissions per GDP unit and per capita. We also find that transportation's impact on carbon emissions differs by city size and region, and transportation modes significantly interact with GDP, population and urban area to affect carbon emissions. These interactions imply that the government's promotion of HSR over conventional rail may have unintended consequences and boost urban carbon emissions.

In the current economical and financial crisis, the economic evaluation of transport infrastructure investment projects is of most importance. Given the need of most governments to reduce spending and control the deficit, having tools that facilitate decision-making seems to be a key objective. This paper examines several high speed lines in Spain, by using the benefit-cost analysis (BCA), in order to obtain more information and determine the social costs and benefits linked to each project. Such analysis allows determining whether costs are higher than benefits, so the net social benefit is positive. Similarly, an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) per project is determined, in order to classify investments with positive BCA.