Green Intermodal Freight Transport
The main aim of the current project is to map, analyze, and evaluate the status of the transport sector in the GIFT transport network and propose new policies and strategies in infrastructure, processes, assets, ICT, legislation, norms and harmonization/ standardization issues, in order to promote innovative green intermodal freight transport corridors. GIFT project will drill down in three Pan-European Transport Corridors, namely IV, V and VII that cover almost the entire SEE region. These corridors have been selected, since: -They connect ports to landlocked countries via road and rail infrastructure -A very significant flow of freight from/to Europe uses these corridors.They involve important areas such as the Adriatic, the Danube, the Black Sea regions and the Balkans -They have the potential to become green, since the instruments (both economical and operational) that can enhance a better integration of different modes of transport, exist. Moreover, we decided to use the PEC Corridors (instead of the TEN-T corridors) as the latter do not cross non-EU countries such as Serbia, BiH, Albania, etc, which however belong to the SEE region. In any case, we have selected PEN Corridors that are in line with TEN-T initiatives. In order to fulfill the initial aim, we will map and assess the current status in terms of transport strategy, operations and policies of the three selected Corridors. Subsequently, based on the findings of our analysis, we will synthesize concrete and pragmatic proposals for the improvement of the current transport network and for relevant policies to promote green transport in the selected corridors. In order to assess the effectiveness of our proposals, we will develop a series of tools to test their green operation. The aim will be to assess the impact of the proposed improvements and policies in terms of trip duration, cost, risk, and CO2 emissions.