Freight transportation demand elasticities: a geographic multimodal transportation network analysis

This paper presents direct and cross-elasticity estimates of the demands fo r three freight transportation modes: rail, road and inland waterways. They are computed for 10 different categories of goods with a detailed multimod al network model of Belgian freight transports. The model, which minimises the generalised cost of transportation tasks defined by O-D matrices, assig ns traffic flows to the different modes, transport means and routes. Succes sive simulations with different relative costs permit the computation of sp ecific are-elasticities. In contrast with the usual methodologies, the pres ent methodology is not based on a statistical analysis of disaggregate data on actual modal choices and transport tariffs. This is a particularly usef ul feature since such data are mostly not: available for freight transports in Europe. Furthermore, it fully takes into account the detailed character istics of the network, all available routes and combinations of modes, as w ell as the specific localisation of activities within the network. Its esti mates are compared with previously published estimates, and, in particular, with Abdelwahab's results published (1998) in this journal. (C) 2001 Elsev ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.