Nachhaltige Güterdistribution - Sustainable Freight Transport on the Local Level

Why is over 90% of freight volume in Switzerland transported by road and why is this figure growing even though the problems of road transport including congestion, noise, air pollution and severe accidents are well known? And, how will Switzerland meet its goal set in 2001 to limit the annual number of trucks crossing the Swiss Alps to 650,000?

These are two of the questions to be addressed in this proposed research project, developing a sustainable freight transport system for Switzerland. The freight transport system's main problem is its lack of efficiency and sustainability. As regularly reported in the media, freight transport operators face severe infrastructure capacity problems at central nodal points leading to reduced stability and quality of service. Moreover, dense traffic on corridors with a high population density or a fragile natural environment is a major issue. However, these types of capacity problems are only symptomatic of more general structural problems in the service network's overall organisation. Therefore solving the freight transport problem cannot be limited to specific capacity improvements and/or environmental improvements (e.g. construction of tunnels in sensitive areas), but instead must be found by optimising the organisation of commodity flows through the entire transport process between shipper and consignee. This includes considering questions about shipment sizes, transport mode and route choices; and asking these questions separately for each transport service.

One key question is the structure of pre- and post-haulage, because these determine freight demand on the main networks. The structure and organisation of freight transport at the local level (i.e. on the "last mile to the customer") is one of the system's most important characteristics. In today's liberalized market the shipper and/or customer may choose between several types of transport services or modes all differing in price and service quality, and all having a differing impact on the freight system's overall efficiency and environmental sustainability. One important question is how this freedom of choice impacts the freight transport system as a whole. Finally, the politically motivated goal of modal shift in Switzerland cannot be achieved without fully understanding the pre- and post-haulage process.

Sustainable processes are generally considered to include economical, environmental and social aspects. Sustainability in freight transport must therefore deal with similar issues, i.e. the economic sustainability of major infrastructure investment projects, the efficient use of human and natural resources (such as energy, land use etc) and the reduction of environmental impacts. Using this framework, the proposed project aims to answer the following question:

What would a sustainable freight transport system look like and how can it be realised? This implies development of a strategy for improving the existing management of freight transport in Switzerland towards a more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable operation. An important aspect will be the question of what role rail transport can and should play in such a system.

The project will use an integrative modeling approach to estimate the consequences of certain decisions not only on the future development of a single transport mode, but also on the freight transport system as a whole. These decisions include general strategies for infrastructure and network development as well as medium/long term political decisions, e.g. in the areas of energy and environment ("Alpine convention" etc.). The model to be developed in this research will bridge between social, managerial and technical sciences thus contributing to better understand the various interactions between the different functional levels of freight transport. Furthermore, the universal analytical approach allows transferring the model structure to other countries.

Developing a sustainable freight transport system is critical to the health of Switzerland's economy and environment. This research will help develop a framework for understanding how such a system could be developed and specific ideas for this important system.