ABSTRACT
This paper proposes a methodology for the appraisal of the effectiveness of Ro-Ro services in competition with the all-road alternative. The methodology is presented and applied with reference to the analysis of the intermodal corridor Italy-Spain. The relevant ports are firstly analyzed in terms of their maritime accessibility, that is measuring the factors usually taken into account by shipping companies in choosing new routes/services. Then, a potential basin and an effective basin are defined for each port, respectively the first encompassing the set of o-d pairs whose maritime shortest path passes through that port, the second containing the o-d pairs with an actual convenience in choosing Ro-Ro with respect to the road mode. The basins are evaluated with reference both to an ideal maritime supply, that is with all ports connected among themselves, and to the current maritime supply between Italy and Spain. This allows the identification of new potential attractive routes, whose effective basin are in turn determined by applying the same proposed methodology. Some aggregate impact measures (i.e. variation of vehicles ⋅ km and tons ⋅ km) useful for appraisal purposes are also calculated.
