Sustainable freight transport systems for Melbourne: how many freight terminals?

This paper models the optimal location of freight terminals or hubs for Melbourne. The objective is to determine the number and location of these terminals. The advantage of developing inland freight terminals with a rail road interchange system is two-fold. First, putting freight on rail will reduce the number of trucks on urban freeways and roads. Second, it will allow the consolidation of freight into fewer high capacity vehicles dedicated to the delivery task within the metropolitan area. The terminals being modelled in this paper are not international or interstate intermodal terminals such as Dynon (rail/road) or the Port of Melbourne rather they are consolidation and distribution facilities with limited storage, handling time critical freight involving parcels or pallets for immediate delivery to retail stores and offices rather than shipping containers or the larger loads associated with national or international transport movements. The terminals are local intra-urban freight facilities. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E217541.