Optimal Intercity Transportation Services with Heterogeneous Demand and Variable Fuel Price

This thesis examines how fuel price variation affects the optimal mix of services in intercity transportation. Two main contributions are made. The first is the development of an analytic total logistics cost model of intercity transportation, which is sensitive to fuel price and incorporates multiple classes of vehicles serving passengers with differentiated values of time. The second is an empirical investigation of the cost relationship between fuel price and operating cost for intercity transportation vehicles. The analytic total logistics cost models are combined with the empirical models to gain insights into the impact of fuel price on optimal service mixes in representative corridors. A scheduled intercity transportation corridor on which different classes of vehicles serve passengers with differentiated values of time is considered. In developing the total logistics cost model, the continuum approximation method from logistics is incorporated. The analysis compares cost models for jet, turboprop and high speed rail intercity transportation. High speed rail is a part of a mixed vehicle service that can reduce total logistics cost, suggesting that an integrated air and rail strategy could be an effective tool to manage costs and fuel consumption for an intercity transportation system.

• Record URL:
  http://www.uctc.net/research/UCTC-DISS-2010-07.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://merritt.cdlib.org/d/ark%3a%2f13030%2fm56h4n6g/1/UCTC-DISS-2010-07.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/769458722
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program. Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering -- Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Engineering – Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of California Transportation Center (UCTC)

  University of California, Berkeley
  2614 Dwight Way, 2nd Floor
  Berkeley, CA  United States  94720-1782

  California Department of Transportation

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  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

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  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Ryerson, Megan Smirti
• Publication Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Bibliography; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 135p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aviation fuels; Cost estimating; Fares; Fuel consumption; High speed rail; Intercity transportation; Jet propelled aircraft; Mathematical models; Operating costs; Pricing; Turboprop aircraft
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Data and Information Technology; Economics; Passenger Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration; I70: Traffic and Transport;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01485764
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Report/Paper Numbers: UCTC-DISS-2010-07
• Files: CALTRANS, UTC, TRIS, RITA, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 8 2013 10:17AM