Planning and Simulation of Intermodal Freight Transport on International Networks. Hub and Spoke System in Euro-Mediterranean Area

Domenico Gattuso, Margherita Malara and Gian Carla Cassone
Additional contact information
Domenico Gattuso: DIIES Department, PAU Department, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Margherita Malara: DIIES Department, PAU Department, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Gian Carla Cassone: DIIES Department, PAU Department, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: The remarkable demographic growth and economic development of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean regions stimulate an ever increasing need for trade between the shores, especially from regions of North Africa and the Middle East towards Western European countries. Today, these exchanges take place mainly by sea and by roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) ships; but the connections by container ships and by road transport are important too. Ro-Ro services are particularly crammed in some North-South directions, with relationships among few ports and with rather limited frequencies. Road transport, especially between the Middle East and Europe, has different limits in terms of cost, safety, and reliability. The paper proposes a hypothesis of a logistic organization on a Euro-Mediterranean scale, through the transition from a network of direct links to a hub and spoke (H&S) network, according to the scheme envisaged for air transport. The research aims to explore, within a framework of the socio-economic system and the mobility demand system, the feasibility of a H&S network for Ro-Ro freight in the Mediterranean basin, based on a hub with high logistical performances, limiting the planning to supply and process consequent impact assessments.

Keywords: short sea shipping; planning and simulation; hub and spoke system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/776/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/776/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:776-:d:311373

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().