R. Konings, H. Priemus Et Al. (eds), The Future Of Intermodal Freight Transport: Operations, Design And Policy, Transport Economics, Management And Policy, Northampton, Ma: Edward Elgar, 2008, Isbn 978-1-84542-238-7

摘要

Even before the First World War, an early road-rail-sea tri-modal transport service was operated between Paris and London. It used 2×2×2 metres wide wooden boxes ("cadres"). Ever since, expectations for intermodal transport have been more prominent than actual progress which has been constrained by inevitable historical and conceptual barriers. In fact, "...the brutal reality is that intermodal is of no interest to most European users; trucking is the norm" (p. 227, chapter 12). Thus, a book on the "future of intermodal transport" is bound to attract attention.rnThe underlying concept of intermodal transport is extremely simple: "Intermodal transport challenges each of the conventional transport modes to consider how it does what it does. Suddenly, every mode has to compete for its place in an intermodal service. Some rise to the challenge; others fail." (p. 225, chapter 12). In practice, however, many barriers need to be overcome for an efficient intermodal system to develop. These include low levels of interconnectivity between modes, as well as interoperability within the modes. "Interconnectivity increases the choices" whereas "interoperability... might seriously impede individual modes from competing" (p. 226, chapter 12). Therefore, intermodality is really about competition versus cooperation in a network industry, i.e., "coopetition" through total systems costs.