Travel time, operating and total cost: comparison between Tuscan trucked air cargo and an environmentally sustainable intermodal freight system

With the help of case study, the present research tries to show that a certain new freight intermodal system can be a good solution only if it is accepted by transport operators. Therefore the system has to be sustainable from the point of view time and cost. The first step of the research intends to identify the Tuscan Industrial Zones (Italy) characterized by an important air cargo export, to define the destination airports, to give a graphic description about ways that they are linked and to determinate current travel time and operating costs. It also introduces a project suggestion concerning a new intermodal system called “Metrocargo” which realizes a rapid road-railway modal exchange, evaluating travel times and operating costs relating to the regional railways lines that link the demand origin and the destination points. The second step intends to quantify the time monetary value both in the event of trucked air cargo and in the event of rail transport, so as to define the total costs.