How is freight distribution affected by travel time unreliability?

Abstract

The impact of travel time unreliability on freight transport has been extensively investigated in the last 20 years with the main focus being placed on mode and route choice (and using mostly stated preference data). In contrast, freight distribution has been very rarely examined in the literature. In this paper, we describe a study on how travel time unreliability affects interregional freight distribution using (revealed preference) data from the last national transport survey carried out in Iran (2015). Through this study, conducted using spatial interaction models and linear and geographically-weighted regression approaches, we found that, globally, travel time reliability is approximately as important as average travel time in determining freight distribution flows, but this importance varies widely across regions. We also found that tardy trip reliability measures describe freight distribution patterns more accurately than statistical range measures (coefficient of variation of travel time).