A queuing model analysis of the performance of the Hong Kong container terminals

The growth of container‐handling industry and its impact on Hong Kong's economy have aroused considerable attention in recent decades. Within the recent twenty years, the rapid growth of container‐handling industry has led Hong Kong to become one of the world's busiest container port with over 11 million T.E.U. s (Twenty Feet Equivalent Units) container throughput in one year period. Also the container throughput is expected to reach 15.5 million T.E.U. s by year 2004.

As the success of container‐handling industry is significant, many studies have been conducted relating to this subject. In this paper, an application of a queuing theory model to Kwai Chung Container Terminals is developed and described. Specifically, we consider seasonal changes at the Terminals and focus on their effects on inter‐arrival time and service time of container vessel.

A crucial component of the study relates to the empirical data collected. Besides verifying the validity of the model, those data provide guidelines for developing schemes to manage the seasonal fluctuation of container throughput of the Terminals.     

Relationships among service quality,corporate image,customer satisfaction,and behavioral intention for the elderly in high speed rail services

Since the Taiwan High Speed Rail operations, Taiwan's transportation market entered into a new era. Because of its competitive service of speed, convenience, environmental concerns and comfort, the High Speed Rail has not only made significant changes but has played a significant role in Taiwan's transportation. However, Taiwan now is an aging society. Due to the physical constraints among the elderly, demands to redesign the traffic system and maintain transportation safety are essential considerations. In the current market, Taiwan's transportation construction is facing fewer barriers; however, it must still improve, especially considering the health of the elderly. Thus, this study investigates elderly passengers' demands and further examined the relationships among service quality, corporate image, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intention. According to empirical analytical results based on structural equation modeling (N = 341), satisfaction directly affected travel behaviors, while service quality and corporate image played indirect roles. In addition, service quality plays a significant role on the effect of satisfaction. This study provides empirical evidence to indicate the quality of the accessible environment affects not only the effectiveness and efficiency of service quality, but also, the corporate image. The results provide valuable references for critically managing the elderly's usage of the high speed rail transportation service. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Logistics opportunities in Asia and development in Taiwan

The economy in Asia is growing rapidly. As a consequence, transportation and communication technologies and the changing needs of customers and shippers have resulted in Asian and Taiwan's logistics being in transition. This paper discusses why logistics changes, and explores the opportunities for Asian logistics development. The issues of logistics perspectives of private sectors in Taiwan are then raised. Finally, logistics development in Taiwan is described.     

Port privatization policy and practice

In recent years a significant number of countries have implemented policies aimed at reforming their port industry. In the belief that it will improve efficiency and reduce the heavy financial burden placed upon governments that attempt to support such a capital-intensive industry, privatization has often formed an important strand of such policies. A key claim in favour of privatization is that the transfer of ownership from public to private hands will ultimately lead to an improvement in economic efficiency and, hence, financial and operational performance. This paper investigates the theoretical underpinnings and practical validity of this claim and concludes that privatization is only a partial cure for what ails the world's ports and that, if implemented in isolation, it simply cannot deliver the much-needed panacea for the industry's woes.     

Port Administrative Structure Change Worldwide: Its Implication for Restructuring Port Authorities in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper aims to review the evolution of the port authority’s role and recent changes in port administrative structure worldwide, and to discuss its implication for restructuring Taiwanese port authorities. It is found that the port authority is expected to play a proactive role in strategically managing overall port operations, and aggressively market its ports to port customers with a view to increasing cargo throughput and economic growth in its region. The change in the port authority’s role has driven a change in port administrative management structure worldwide. The proposed restructuring of port authorities in Taiwan is accompanied by some potential pitfalls. These include that the legislative framework of the programme is driven by political rather than professional concerns, and the port authority’s dual role as a regulator and as an operator at ports is against the principles of ‘separation of port administration (regulatory functions) and business management’ recently adopted worldwide. These pitfalls can impede the achievement of the objectives, including directing port authorities towards becoming independent commercially oriented entities. Therefore, this paper recommends that port corporatization approach will be a good alternative for restructuring Taiwanese port authorities.     

Impacts of Transport Infrastructure on Productivity and Economic Growth: Recent Advances and Research Challenges

ABSTRACT

The paper provides an update of the survey focusing on estimating the contribution of transport infrastructure to productivity and economic growth. The central questions addressed are possible reasons behind the conflicting results reported in the literature on the elasticity of economic output with respect to transport infrastructure investment. After providing a systematic review of recent empirical studies on the effects of transport infrastructure on productivity and economic growth, the paper notes that controversial results can be attributed to ten causes (grouped into three categories for distinguishing): (1) related to different contexts: research period, geographical scales, and country's capability in enabling economic development; (2) related to different phenomena that are being measured: different economic sectors, different types of transport infrastructure, and different quality levels of transport infrastructure; and (3) related to distinct ways of measuring a similar phenomenon: measures used to describe the dependent variable and explanatory variable, functional specification, and estimation method of the econometric model. Strong network externalities of transport infrastructure may result in nonlinearity of the relationship between transport infrastructure and economic growth. Moreover, the absence of spatial concerns in infrastructure's impacts is another important source of inconclusive results. Finally, building on recent literature, the paper has discussed policy implications and identified several research avenues for further research.     

An Institutional Analysis of Coordination in Liberalized Port-related Railway Chains: An Application to the Port of Rotterdam

Abstract

The European railway market has gone through a period of liberalization over the last two decades. The liberalization of the railway market has also affected port-related railway transport. Efficient port-related transport chains are key in the competition among ports, however providing this efficiency is to a large extent a coordination challenge. Many forms of coordination are needed to ensure that the railway chain operates efficiently, including the bundling of cargo, and good organization between railway companies, terminal operators and the infrastructure managers to realize an efficient use of assets. From the literature, it appears that less attention has been paid to the economic organization of port-related railway transport in general, and specifically in the new liberalized institutional environment. The goal of this paper is to come up with a framework to better understand the issue of coordination in port-related railway chains in a liberalized institutional environment. This paper presents a conceptual framework rooted in Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). Based on an in-depth study into coordination in liberalized container railway market at the Port of Rotterdam, empirical illustrations are used to adjust the TCE approach toward a dynamic model influenced by Douglas North's theory on economic and institutional change. Empirics from the port of Rotterdam show that new players have entered the railway market and their role has changed. This paper shows that coordination of railway operations has become more complex after the regime change. From a port perspective, liberalization does not lead to an optimal allocation of resources in a process that is highly operationally interdependent. In the liberalized environment, coordination arrangements are necessary to enable efficient coordination of railway operations in Rotterdam.     

How big data enriches maritime research – a critical review of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data applications

ABSTRACT

The information-rich vessel movement data provided by the Automatic Identification System (AIS) has gained much popularity over the past decade, during which the employment of satellite-based receivers has enabled wide coverage and improved data quality. The application of AIS data has developed from simply navigation-oriented research to now include trade flow estimation, emission accounting, and vessel performance monitoring. The AIS now provides high frequency, real-time positioning and sailing patterns for almost the whole world's commercial fleet, and therefore, in combination with supplementary databases and analyses, AIS data has arguably kickstarted the era of digitisation in the shipping industry. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive review of the literature regarding AIS applications by dividing it into three development stages, namely, basic application, extended application, and advanced application. Each stage contains two to three application fields, and in total we identified seven application fields, including (1) AIS data mining, (2) navigation safety, (3) ship behaviour analysis, (4) environmental evaluation, (5) trade analysis, (6) ship and port performance, and (7) Arctic shipping. We found that the original application of AIS data to navigation safety has, with the improvement of data accessibility, evolved into diverse applications in various directions. Moreover, we summarised the major methodologies in the literature into four categories, these being (1) data processing and mining, (2) index measurement, (3) causality analysis, and (4) operational research. Undoubtedly, the applications of AIS data will be further expanded in the foreseeable future. This will not only provide a more comprehensive understanding of voyage performance and allow researchers to examine shipping market dynamics from the micro level, but also the abundance of AIS data may also open up the rather opaque aspect of how shipping companies release information to external authorities, including the International Maritime Organization, port states, scientists and researchers. It is expected that more multi-disciplinary AIS studies will emerge in the coming years. We believe that this study will shed further light on the future development of AIS studies.     

Corporatisation and Performance: A Literature Review and an Analysis of the Performance Effects of the Corporatisation of Port of Rotterdam Authority

Abstract

The ongoing process of port reform has led to an increasing number of publicly owned but corporatised port authorities (PAs). The performance effects of corporatisation have been analysed, for example, for the airports industry, often showing positive effects. This paper reviews the literature on port reform and the relationship between port governance structures and performance. It also presents a first case study on the effects of corporatisation of PAs, namely for the Port of Rotterdam Authority, a publicly owned but corporatised port development company. In 2004, this organisation was transformed from a municipal department to an independently operating company. The performance indicators to evaluate the effect of this corporatisation include market share, turnover, operating costs, profits, and investments. These indicators are evaluated for two periods, one prior to the corporatisation (1997–2003) and the other afterwards (2005–11). The comparison of these two periods shows that corporatisation has led to significant improvements of all performance indicators. The findings derived from this case study are relevant for the ongoing discussion on port governance models.     

Acquisition,efficiency and scale economies: An analysis of the British bus industry

The British Bus industry has undergone considerable transformation since privatization. Five major operators have emerged to dominate the market, a position almost exclusively attained through acquisition. This paper reviews the economies of scale argument commonly cited for this change and gives an overview of the acquisition process. It questions whether this argument gives a complete explanation for this industry development. For 58 individual companies, the level of technical efficiency attributable to firms operating at or near the optimum level of output is examined over 5 years to determine if mergers in practice have resulted in scale economies. Technical efficiency is estimated using data envelopment analysis, under assumptions of constant and variable returns to scale. Efficiency scores are then regressed on a time trend and a merger dummy to test whether acquired firms' efficiency has significantly improved above the average. It was found that over the period, efficiency had improved. This improvement, however, cannot be wholly attributed to the achievement of economies of scale. More specifically, there has been an improvement in the internal efficiency of acquired firms and some scale economies within group companies, the latter of which may have resulted from the eradication of competition.     

Modal shift from road haulage to short sea shipping: a systematic literature review and research directions

ABSTRACT

Modal shift from road haulage to short sea shipping (SSS) has been advocated by authorities and researchers for more than two decades. This paper provides a review of literature on modal shift and pinpoints paths for future research on topics in six categories: (1) factors influencing SSS competitiveness, (2) the policy-oriented perspective, (3) environmental legislation, (4) SSS performance, (5) port characteristics, and (6) the multi-agent perspective. In particular, we propose first, in evaluating the performance of SSS versus road haulage in different trade corridors, three performance-related dimensions – the economic dimension (e.g. external costs), the environmental dimension, and the dimension of service quality – should be considered. Second, researchers should use rich, real-world, numerical data and operational research techniques to identify the relative importance of individual drivers and barriers for a modal shift from road haulage to SSS. Third proposed direction is related to assessing which groups of actors certain policies should target. In doing so, researchers should extend their policy-related focus beyond the European Union, which has long encompassed the major geopolitical scope of research on the modal shift. Fourth, to moderate the adverse impact of environmental legislation on SSS, strategic solutions need to be identified. Fifth, we also suggest that the influence of contingencies, particularly port strikes and cyberattacks, on SSS operations and approaches for managing them should be investigated. Sixth, the economic and financial advantages of coordination and alliance for each transport chain agent need to be evaluated.     

Competition in the UK passenger railway industry: Prospects and problems

The promotion of competition between passenger train operators was a key aim of the 1992- 97 Conservative Government when it privatized British Rail. Although the potential for competition in the market was constrained through regulation at the time of the sale, competition for the market became intense. Regulatory controls are now being relaxed and the promotion of competition remains central to the present Labour Government's rail strategy, particularly in the form of a redefined and reinvigorated franchising programme. It seems to be generally accepted in policy-making circles that it is both possible and desirable to encourage competition in the UK's railway industry on the grounds that it can further enhance service quality across the network. This paper highlights some qualifications to this position and suggests that, for various reasons, a strong policy emphasis on market liberalization may be impractical or unsuitable, at least in the short to medium term.     

Container Railfreight Services in North‐west Europe: Diversity of Organizational Forms in a Liberalizing Environment

Abstract

The institutional environment of rail transport has changed as a result of recent European directives, but the changes have taken different forms from one country to another. In the case of international maritime chains, the development of door‐to‐door services makes inland haulage from the loading and discharging ports extremely important, and it highlights the need to reshape the rail freight industry. This paper analyses the degree of involvement of different actors drawn from the maritime industry in developing and commercializing rail services in the changing regulatory environment. Several maritime operators, shipping lines, port‐handling companies and port authorities have been involved in some container rail services since the early days of liberalization. Their commitments take very different forms, however. Whereas contracts are mainly used for the provision of service, particularly for train haulage, integration by means of shareholding or creating subsidiaries or joint ventures is used for marketing. Important differences between France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands are detailed. In the latter two countries, there is more involvement in the provision of rail services. Marketing rail services appear to be the main strategic issue for the maritime operators in all four countries     

A decision support system for port selection

Abstract

A number of studies have been carried out on the factors determining port choice, derived from the perspectives of shippers, carriers or both. Recently, some studies using multi-criteria analysis, more specifically Saaty's analytical hierarchy process (AHP), have been undertaken to address port competitiveness and port selection by shipping lines. Based on a review of the literature on port selection, this article proposes a decision support system (DSS) for port selection using AHP methodology. The proposed DSS is web-based and thus it can be accessed by more decision makers and data collection can be carried out faster. Moreover, AHP addresses the issue of how to structure a complex decision problem, identify its criteria, measure the interaction among them and finally synthesise all the information to arrive at priorities, which depict preferences. AHP is able to assist port managers in obtaining a detailed understanding of the criteria and address the port selection problem utilising multi-criteria analysis. This article presents the architecture and the port selection procedure of the web-based DSS, and then illustrates three different cases. It shows how technology advancement can bring positive effects of strategic planning to shipping firms.     

Partial productivity measures and total factor productivity in the air transport industry: Limitations and uses

In recent years the measurement of productivity has increasingly focused on measuring total factor productivity or TFP. Additional research has investigated the reasons for differences in TFP between firms. The implicit assumption behind this work is that simpler measures of industry productivity (such as revenue ton-miles per employee) can seriously misstate both the level and growth rate of productivity. As a result, accurate analysis of productivity requires information on TFP. While this argument is not open to debate on a theoretical basis, the extent that simple measures of productivity inaccurately portray TFP has not been investigated in anything but a cursory manner. This paper investigates the relationship between typical industry measures of productivity and TFP using a data set of U.S. and non-U.S. airlines for the period 1970–1983. The paper examines both levels of productivity and growth rates. The results indicate the extent to which industry measures accurately or inaccurately reflect the more comprehensive measure of productivity (TFP). To the extent that industry measures are inaccurate, this paper investigates the possible sources of error in order to determine if slightly altered industry measures might more accurately reflect TFP.     

A ‘Less-flexibility-first’ Heuristic for the Placement of Inland Vessels in a Lock

Abstract

Inland vessels move goods along waterways (canals and rivers) and they visit ports. Because of their tidal nature, vessels make use of locks to enter ports or waterways. From a port management point of view, fast access to and from the port and high utilization of locks are important objectives. Where the former relates to low inbound and outbound waiting times, the latter relates to the placement of as many vessels as possible in the lock before its operation. This article includes a case study that relates to the operation of the Van Cauwelaert lock in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. Lock operation policy is as follows: vessels wait in front of the lock for a port administrator to assign places in the lock based on knowledge of the vessels’ dimensions. As such, there is no FIFO-discipline, but a ‘group-FIFO’-discipline, i.e. if n vessels are allowed into the lock, they are the first n vessels in the arrival queue. A heuristic algorithm is formulated for the placement of vessels in the lock. This algorithm supports the decision where to place the vessel in the lock, aiming to place as many vessels as possible from the arrival queue. At the same time, it supports the decision to start a locking operation or not, based on information about vessels that are announced but which have not yet arrived at the lock's entrance. The heuristic is called a ‘less-flexibility-first’-heuristic as it looks for pseudo-placements, showing which flexibility is left for the remaining vessels after placing a vessel. This article describes the implementation of the heuristic and provides numerical examples. A comparison is made between the heuristic results and daily practice, based on real-life vessel movements through the Van Cauwelaert lock in 2002.     

Airline flight scheduling for oligopolistic competition with direct flights and a point to point network

In this research, we consider a flight scheduling problem for oligopolistic competition with direct flights and a point to point network. In this type of market situation, passengers are sensitive to the departure time of a flight rather than the transfer time. The airline needs to carefully consider the departure times of their competitors when determining their own. Therefore, unlike past approaches which have only considered one departure time for a competitor's flight, a flight scheduling framework is developed which takes into consideration possible competitor departure times. The framework includes two dependent stages which are repeatedly solved during the solution process. In addition, an upper bound model is also designed to evaluate the solution quality. Numerical tests are performed using data for Taiwan's outlying island route which is characterized by the above market situation. Satisfactory results are obtained, showing the good performance of the framework. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Greening of Ports: A Comparison of Port Management Tools Used by Leading Ports in Asia and Europe

Abstract

From the policy and management perspective, this study aims to investigate the port management tools that port/public authorities have at their disposal and then to analyse to what extent the tools are used to enforce or encourage green port development at functional activities of port operations and development. We conduct an exploratory and comparative review based on two axes: on the one hand, the range of tools available to port authorities (pricing, monitoring and measuring, market access control and environmental standard regulation) and on the other hand, the functional activities in ports (shipping traffic, cargo handling and storage operations, intermodal connection, industrial activities, and port expansion). The situations in the leading ports in Asia and Europe, namely Singapore, Shanghai, Antwerp and Rotterdam are studied and compared, whereby the policies' effectiveness is discussed accordingly. Findings show that the ports are particularly mature in exercising environmental standard regulations which reveals that the enforcement approach is more prevalent. The most focused functional activity is shipping traffic which reflects that the ports are driven by the International Maritime Organisation. The respective port authorities in Antwerp and Rotterdam have a higher level of influence on devising green port policy in comparison to the two Asian ports.     

Deregulation in Polish Rail Transport

Abstract

A phenomenon new to the Polish situation—the deregulation of rail transport—is presented. Despite its primarily legal nature, deregulation also implies various economic, socio‐political and spatial consequences. The relatively short period over which partial deregulation of public transport in Poland has been in effect (i.e. since 2000) ensures that the issue has not been taken up by Polish geographers as a research field. However, it has been of interest to Polish economists. Deregulation is a phenomenon of primary importance, with direct implications for the character, quality, type, intensity and spatial differentiation of transport (including freight and passenger traffic) within the market economy. This paper, therefore, presents the impact of the recent changes in the legal system (as regards deregulation) on the current pattern of railway connections of the major carriers. As the majority of these originate beyond the Polskie Koleje Państwowe (Polish State Railways) Group, they can be said to be independent of the main former state carrier.