A Low-Carbon Transportation Network: Collaborative Effects of a Rail Freight Subsidy and Carbon Trading Mechanism

Abstract: Optimizing a transportation network is an effective way to reduce carbon emissions. To examine the collaborative effects of a rail freight subsidy and carbon trading mechanism in a low-carbon transportation network, a 0-1 planning mathematical model that considers transportation cost, carbon trading cost and transportation time is established in this paper. The Pareto optimal frontier solution set is found for the problem, and the optimal solution is determined using the evaluation function of the ideal point method. A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt region in China is conducted to demonstrate the application and practicality of the model. Sensitivity analysis is carried out on rail freight subsidy, carbon quota and carbon trading price. The numerical results highlight that the rail freight subsidy significantly contributed to the design of the low-carbon transportation network, while the low carbon trading price showed a limited effect, which also leads to a weak effect of carbon quota on low-carbon transportation network design. These findings provide decision-making support for optimizing the low-carbon transportation network design and improving the carbon trading mechanism.

Speaker: Ying-En (Ethan) Ge

Dr Ying-En Ge, since September 2022, has been Professor of the School of Transportation Engineering at Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China. His primary academic interests include transport modeling and analysis, transport & environment, international transportation and logistics and operations and management of ports & shipping. He worked in the U.K. and in the USA for more than 10 years and currently serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief for Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Associate Editor for Transport Policy and Transport, and is a member of the editorial boards of International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Maritime Transport Research, Transportation Informatics and Safety, etc.

Over the years he also served as the Executive Chair of the 6th International Symposium on Travel Demand Management (TDM2013), the Chair of the Organizing Committee of the 6th Transportation Research Forum (Shanghai, 2015), and the 16th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP2016). His publications appear in Transportation Science, Transportation Research Parts A-E, Maritime Policy & Management, Networks and Spatial Economics, Transportmetrica, as so on.