Towards greener freight transport networks: An integrated model for location planning and carbon regulation policy evaluation

Abstract

This paper proposes a mathematical model to assist governmental planning in the transport sector by suggesting optimal locations for logistics integration centers considering intermodality, logistics costs, and carbon costs. Seven scenarios were evaluated considering the assessment of carbon-tax and carbon-cap policies. The findings showed that logistic costs are more significant than carbon costs across the network investigated. Only non-competitive conditions such as considering carbon costs alone or adopting outrageous values for the carbon tax could change this situation. If no facility were opened, the total cost would be 2.8 times higher than the baseline scenario, while intermodality would reduce the baseline emissions by up to 3.753%. Therefore, the government should prioritize greener strategies and modal shifts in addition to implementing carbon policies to ensure a more sustainable and cost-effective transportation sector.