This dissertation aims to evaluate environmental and economic performances of an intermodal freight transport system and to estimate the trade-off between CO2 emissions, which is represented as an indicator of environmental performance, and freight costs, which indicate the economic performance of the intermodal freight system. The truck-only system is always regarded as the counterpart of the intermodal freight system in this dissertation. To examine the environmental performance of the intermodal freight system, CO2 emissions generated from all the processes in the intermodal chain, such as pre- and post-haulage, longdistance haulage, and transshipment, are estimated considering different sources that generate electricity and transmission loss of electricity (Chapters 3 and 4). To examine the economic performance of the system, two approaches are considered: (1) finding the intermodal breakeven distance for which the intermodal system is more competitive than the truck-only system (Chapter 5); (2) examining the economies of scale in the intermodal network and finding the route/system choice that minimizes the total freight transportation costs (Chapter 6). Finally, this dissertation attempts to find the trade-off between CO2 emissions (representing the environmental performance) and freight transportation cost (representing the economic performance) (Chapter 7). (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting