RESEARCH INTO THE POSSIBILITIES FOR INTRODUCING AN INNOVATIVE FREIGHT TRANSPORT

Due to a rapid increase in the volume of freight traffic especially in cities, urban centers suffer from acute traffic congestion. Deterioration of roadside environment has also been widely observed. There is a limit, however, as to how much of these problems can be mitigated within the context of current distribution system, which sorely depends on manned vehicles using internal-combustion-engine that operate above ground. There is an urgent need to develop a new, more sophisticated goods distribution system to significantly change the status quo. This dissertation explores the possibility of adopting an ITS (Intelligent Transport System) system in which electric-vehicles are operated in underground tunnels. Using the Tokyo words as a case study area, a traffic simulation and a cost-benefit analysis on this New Freight Transport System are conducted. For the covering abstract see ITRD E114174.