Innovative means of cargo transport: A scalable method for estimating regional impacts

Abstract The integration of innovative means of transport, like the Hyperloop concept, cargo drones and cargo zeppelins, into existing transport networks presents a challenge not only from a technological point of view, but also has various economic, social, and ecological impacts. Therefore, this work estimates regional impacts of a connection utilizing innovative means of transport. The presented scalable method is not limited to a specific type or number of regions, but capable to estimate the impacts of large-scale transport networks covering a great number of diverse regions. The work contributes to quantitative transport network modelling, as it provides a method for the quantification of essential regional impacts, which can be incorporated into comprehensive transport network models. The applicability of the method is demonstrated with a real-life example. As a result, values of an impact indicator for selected international regions are available for a set of innovative means of transport.