Integration of China's intermodal freight transportation and ITS technologies

Chinese government has been dramatically increasing the investment in the infrastructures of transportation and logistics system to provide new capacity. Investments focus on: railway and highway transportation network, container harbors, airports, and logistics hubs or distribution center. However, some problems still hampering the development of the system: 1) High cost and low efficiency of the operation of freight transportation and logistics systems. 2) Low reliable, time-uncertain transportation and distribution services to shippers. 3) Negative impact on urban traffic and environment (e.g. congestion, noise, and pollution). ITS can generate additional capacity from the existing physical infrastructures. ITS can also improve the reliability, accessibility, and predictability of intermodal freight systems, and enable freight managers to make better informed, more coordinated and intelligent decisions. This paper first discusses the main issues about the intermodal freight transportation in urban areas in China. The paper identifies and describes what and how ITS technologies could be applied in the urban freight transportation system to deal with some of those issues, as well as the appropriate relations among these identified applicable ITS technologies. Finally, an ITS application framework for the urban intermodal freight transportation is introduced.