New freight transport incentive to achieve modal shift targets: Methodology and application to Italy

This study illustrates a new freight transport incentive for achieving modal shift targets. The proposed incentives are jointly designed for all non-road modes within an optimization framework, varying by origin–destination pair to maximize effectiveness while adhering to budget constraints and market competition regulations. This approach addresses the limitations and side effects of existing incentive schemes. Methodological issues related to the formulation and solution of the optimization problem are discussed, and a specific heuristic algorithm is presented to apply the proposed approach to large-scale instances. The viability of the proposed approach is demonstrated with an example of a multimodal freight system in Italy, considering various assumptions on freight mode choice and cargo values of time. The results show that the proposed approach outperforms nationwide incentive schemes.