Explore the opportunities for using GPS sensors in freight transportation for data gathering
Compare the energy consumption among the existing freight transport modes and networks.
Identify sustainable routes and transport modes for freight.
Propose upgrades across all modes including road, rail and water.
 |
 |
 |
 |
What are the opportunities for employing sensors in freight transportation systems to explore the key distributional characteristics of the UK freight transportation system in terms of demand (tons shipped) and supply (speed, load factor, vehicle trips and distances, energy use, etc.) with respect to distance and other determinants?
There is only very limited data describing freight transportation system operations on a disaggregate level for entire countries. Obtaining such data would make it possible to understand the variability of energy intensities by mode and to perform apple-to-apple comparisons of energy intensities (different freight modes typically carry different commodities which makes such comparisons very difficult). The obtained relationships, such as speed versus distance, are also important inputs into mode choice models. We intend to analyse the collected data using econometric models.
Once these characteristics have been identified and modelled we can evaluate the energy demand for freight transportation per transport mode and per route.
At the same time these results enable us to propose sustainable freight routes and the most efficient freight transport modes.
Principal Investigator Andreas Schäfer