Future demand for container transport is expected to increase, placing pressure on the port-hinterland system of the Rhine river. To meet European climate goals and relieve the congested road freight system, inland waterway transport (IWT) is promoted as a sustainable alternative. However, IWT is vulnerable to low water levels as a result of climate change, as evidenced by significant drought periods in 2018. This research investigates how the strategic establishment of transshipment hubs can enhance the climate resilience of the port-hinterland system of the Rhine river under varying river discharge scenarios. The focus is on three critical bottlenecks in terms of available draught: Druten, Duisburg, and Kaub. This study quantifies the impact of new hubs on the total cost and CO2-equivalent emissions by developing a mathematical location routing model, which is used for a scenario-based analysis with varying river discharge levels and rail capacity levels. Results show that hub establishment significantly reduces both total transport costs and CO2-equivalent emissions during low discharge scenarios, without requiring expansion of existing terminals. The establishment of hubs depends on location and multimodal accessibility, with rail connections only becoming economically viable when the remaining hub-destination distance exceeds certain distance thresholds. The findings provide actionable insights for policymakers and transport authorities on strategic decisions of infrastructure investments to improve the climate-resilience of freight transport along the Rhine corridor to minimize total costs, reduce CO2-equivalent emissions, and relieve congested road networks.

This thesis examines the integration of carbon-reducing technologies and distribution decisions within the cement industry's supply chain, with a focus on the impact of these decisions on emerging carbon pricing mechanisms, particularly the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). As the cement industry is a major contributor to global carbon emissions, there is significant pressure to reduce its environmental footprint. Despite the potential of carbon capture technology, its adoption within the cement industry has been slow and remains limited. Moreover, decision‐support tools to guide these decarbonisation decisions remain scarce. This thesis develops and validates an integrated framework that combines long-term demand forecasting, strategic investment in carbon capture technologies, and distribution planning under evolving carbon-pricing regimes.


First, an extensive data collection process assembles detailed information on global cement production facilities, bilateral trade flows, and regional emission factors, providing a robust empirical foundation for the analysis. A country-level consumption series for 1995--2023 is then reconstructed by combining historical trade flows with production capacity data, applying outlier detection and interpolation techniques to ensure trend consistency. Building on this foundation, a systematic forecasting exercise produces reliable country-level demand -- which is thereafter distributed over the three biggest populated cities in the country -- projections for 2025--2050, which are spatially disaggregated to define demand nodes for the optimisation model.


The core of the methodology is a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model that simultaneously optimises binary investment decisions in carbon capture retrofits and continuous cement flows across a 25-year planning horizon. The model’s objective function maximises profit by balancing expected revenues against production, transportation, emissions-related costs, storage and transportation costs for captured carbon, and capital expenditures for retrofit investments.


To evaluate model robustness and the influence of future policy environments, the study conducts comprehensive parameter sensitivity and scenario analyses. Sensitivity analysis systematically perturbs key input parameters -- such as production and transportation costs -- to identify which uncertainties most affect optimal investment and distribution strategies. Scenario analysis contrasts three carbon pricing pathways (STEPS, APS, and NZE), each evaluated with and without the CBAM, to investigate how different policy trajectories shape investment decisions and trade flows.


Results show that the CBAM consistently accelerates retrofitting investments and reshapes international cement trade flows across the STEPS and NZE carbon pricing pathways. Under more aggressive carbon pricing scenarios (APS and NZE), domestic European retrofit projects become viable even without the CBAM, although the mechanism continues to redirect marginal investments toward lower-cost regions. Sensitivity tests reveal that assumptions about regional production costs exert the strongest influence on investment outcomes, while variations in transport-related costs have comparatively limited effects.


This thesis makes three key contributions. Methodologically, it provides a validated, end-to-end decision-support framework that integrates comprehensive data preparation, long-term demand forecasting, mathematical optimisation, and detailed post-analysis. Empirically, it offers novel insights into how the CBAM implementation and alternative carbon pricing trajectories jointly determine the geography of carbon capture investments and global cement flows. Practically, it delivers a strategic tool enabling industry stakeholders and policymakers to plan effective long-term decarbonisation strategies under uncertainty, highlighting the importance of targeted support measures in higher-cost regions and the need to align regulatory designs with the economic realities of global supply chains.

Amid increasing pressure to decarbonize logistics operations, hybrid distribution strategies that combine direct plant shipments with conventional two-echelon networks are gaining attention in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. This thesis investigates the trade-offs between logistics costs and environmental performance in such hybrid distribution networks through a case study at Procter & Gamble (P&G). A novel flow-based adaptation of the two-echelon vehicle routing problem (2E-VRP) is developed and implemented within a multi-objective optimization framework. Applying scalarization and ε-constraint methods, the analysis shows that while direct shipments from plants can lower logistics costs, they do not necessarily improve environmental performance. When emissions are directly minimized, two-echelon flows are often preferred due to their higher vehicle utilization. Sensitivity analyses reveal that carbon pricing alone has limited influence on routing decisions, whereas optimizing emissions under cost constraints leads to more sustainable but more centralized logistics patterns. These findings indicate a structural misalignment between cost-efficient and environmentally optimal strategies. The study underscores the importance of route-specific eligibility rules and operational constraints, such as minimum vehicle fill rates, to support logistics decisions aligned with sustainability goals.

Private rail sidings form the physical access gates for companies to the rail network. Without these rail freight, transport is not possible and these private sidings can be seen as an indicator of the competitiveness of rail transport. However, the number of private sidings has dropped significantly over the last decades, which limits the rail freight sector and the resilience of the rail network. A resilient rail network is important to reach societal goals such as emission reduction and less road nuisance. This research focuses on this problem by proposing concrete strategies to help the companies using rail transport and allow them to use their private sidings. Through the help of literature, data and stakeholder interviews, an Osterwalder business model canvas, SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix are constructed to identify the problems and propose strategies. Causal diagrams show the coherence of the sector and how problems, strategies and private sidings influence each other. The first result is a new way of categorising companies and their respective private sidings. This reveals the underlying problems and strengths per type of private siding. The most important problems are rising costs, unreliability of the rail network and limited usability of the private siding due to regulations and non-electrified infrastructure. To combat this, six strategies are proposed with the introduction of a second infrastructure manager to combat costs and regulations and specific infrastructure investments as the most promising strategies. Effective policies require tailored solutions based on the type of company and private siding. This can help the Dutch rail sector and increase the resilience of the transport network.

Freight transport is vital for urban economic growth, yet its increasing demand exacerbates congestion and emissions. The integration of freight delivery within public transport networks presents a sustainable alternative, leveraging underutilised transit capacity. While prior studies focus on operational aspects, limited research addresses strategic hub locations within public transit networks. This study introduces a novel framework for selecting public transport stations as freight hubs using a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach with the Best-Worst Method (BWM). The framework evaluates key factors, such as accessibility, capacity, and costs, to determine optimal hub locations. A simulation is subsequently conducted to assess real-world viability, demonstrating the trade-offs between network reach, handling efficiency, and financial constraints. The results indicate that strategic hub placement significantly impacts network scalability and efficiency. Future research can expand
upon this framework to refine urban freight delivery models tailored to specific implementation areas.

Effective waste management is critical for urban sustainability, yet decision-making in this domain is often divided due to diverse stakeholder interests. This study applies the Multi-Actor Multi-Criteria Analysis (MAMCA) to evaluate waste collection alternatives for the redevelopment of the Dreven, Gaarden, and Zichten neighborhoods in The Hague. Stakeholders—including the Municipality of The Hague, Staedion (housing corporation), Haagse Milieu Service (waste collection service), and Heijmans (developer)—were engaged to define key evaluation criteria: cost, space usage, ease of use, sustainability, and implementation feasibility. Five alternatives were assessed: (1) the existing Underground Residual Waste Containers (ORACs) as a baseline, (2) Indoor Roll Containers, (3) Indoor Press Containers, (4) Press Underground Containers (ORACs with compaction), and (5) an Underground Waste Transport System (OAT). The results indicate that press underground containers (ORACs) are the most supported alternative across stakeholders, offering a balance between cost efficiency, operational feasibility, and sustainability. In contrast, indoor roll containers received the lowest evaluation due to high operational costs and inefficiencies. Despite this, indoor roll containers are currently being implemented in the first newly constructed buildings in the redevelopment area. This underscores the necessity of using MAMCA in waste management decision-making, as it enables a structured, multi-stakeholder approach that can lead to more broadly supported and efficient solutions. The study demonstrates MAMCA’s potential as a decision-support tool, integrating stakeholder preferences and structuring complex multi-criteria evaluations. The findings provide a foundation for the data-driven, phased implementation of press underground containers and emphasize the importance of stakeholder collaboration in waste management decision-making.

The logistics industry is increasingly prioritising sustainability, requiring a comprehensive approach to carrier selection for transporting tank containers overseas. Current studies often focus only on economic factors, but social and environmental aspects are also crucial for sustainable logistics practices. This research introduces a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework combining the Best-Worst Method (BWM) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Through a literature review, expert interviews, and secondary data analysis, relevant criteria are identified. The framework is applied to a case study to evaluate carriers for transporting tank containers overseas on
three major shipping lanes, incorporating sustainability objectives alongside traditional criteria. The results show a balanced and structured carrier selection process contributing to current sustainability goals. The findings highlight the possibility of including sustainability criteria without significant costs, providing practical recommendations for logistics companies to improve their carrier selection practices and support long-term environmental and social benefits.

Abstract— This research aims to explore the potential of selfservice technologies (SSTs) within football stadiums, focusing on Stadion Feijenoord ”De Kuip”. The potential benefits of these SSTs includes reducing waiting times, lowering costs, and enhancing the supporters experience. The approach begins with a review of existing literature on SSTs in the hospitality industry. Following this review, the study will employ stated choice experiments, alongside data analysis and observations, to explore the potential benefits and impacts of these SSTs. This research provides insights about operating efficiency and effectiveness of SST and traditional counters in football
stadiums. Besides, the importance of human interaction at these different types of counters is assessed. Keywords - Selfservice technologies, stadiums, human interaction, supporters experience, services times, productivity

Dry port has emerged as a critical element of transport infrastructure, eliciting substantial research and investment for its development. The strategic selection of dry port locations not only enhances the effectiveness of connections between seaports and hinterlands but also supports the sustainable advancement of the logistics industry, given that dry port operations can integrate with more environmentally friendly transportation modes, particularly inland waterway transport. Extensive research has been conducted to identify optimal dry port locations within the framework of inland waterway container terminals. Nevertheless, these studies primarily focus on developed economies, leaving a notable research void in developing countries. This paper aims to propose a methodological framework for selecting the most suitable dry port location, with a particular emphasis on integration with inland waterway transport in developing nations. This study implements a combination of the Best-Worst Method (BWM) and Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité III (ELECTRE III) in this domain. An analytical case study of Northern Vietnam, considering five alternative dry ports, is conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed framework. Twenty-seven Vietnamese experts, categorized into three groups—policymakers and consultants, dry port investors and operators, and dry port users—participate in the decision-making process, contributing insights to this case study. An aggregated group decision-making approach is employed. Four principal criteria—economic, accessibility, location, and environmental—are utilized to assess and rank the five alternatives. The findings reveal that a reduction in transport cost is the most critical sub-criterion, while environmental considerations and railway accessibility receive the lowest priority.

Dry ports have emerged as a promising solution to hinterland transport challenges. Existing literature implies an area of study on the topic of dry port that considers dry port stakeholders’ perspectives to construct a maturity model that could help dry port develop. This study has tried to contribute to this subject, starting with considering arguably two of the most relevant dry port stakeholders: the customer and the dry port operator. A series of performance logistic attributes has been identified to represent dry port customers’ perspectives, while a series of innovation factors is used to represent the dry port operator’s perspective. Utilizing the creative approach of MAMCA-Swing to analyze the services offered by a dry port using each of the stakeholders’ perspectives as criteria, the study has established a link between this analysis result and the creation of a dry port maturity model. A case study based on Indonesian dry ports has also been conducted to illustrate the use of such a framework, resulting in a dry port maturity model for Indonesia that is arguably relevant and useful in helping Indonesian dry ports develop.

This research deepens the understanding of issues of mobility injustice, related to accessibility, in context of vulnerable neighbourhoods in peri-urban areas. Through the use of a case study of a vulnerable neighbourhood in the Hague Southwest, this paper aims to add to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the causes (accessibility barriers) and consequences (on the opportunities to access valued activities) of accessibility issues from a residents’ perspective, in the context of vulnerable neighbourhoods. This research adopts the Capabilities Approach as a technical tool, which has been gaining attention in considering issues of mobility injustice. Central to this approach is that it puts the emphasis on individuals’ opportunities to access valued activities (capabilities) instead of focusing on realised behaviour. Everyday mobility experiences can be used as an analytical tool to describe the relationship between mobilities and capabilities; it creates understanding in how mobility contributes to, or impedes, individuals’ opportunities to access valued out-of-home activities, and thereby affects one’s well-being. The focus on everyday mobility experiences and capabilities contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature of the problem from the perspective of a group for which currently very little is known. This is considered vital information for the effective design of solutions/policy instruments countering mobility injustice, relevant to accessibility.

In order to fulfill the climate commitments outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, there is a pressing need to substantially reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Among these GHG emissions, CO2 contributes for 75% of the total Greenhouse Gas emissions. The transport sector accounts for 22% of these CO2 emissions. Despite the only 2% of the overall vehicle fleet in Europe, trucks and buses contribute a substantial 28% to the annual CO2 emissions on roads. Decarbonizing the transportation sector can be approached with various solution, with electrification emerging as one viable solution. Electrification involves converting diesel trucks with internal combustion engines into battery trucks. Furthermore, extending this shift to heavy duty trucks can be achieved by implementing an Electric Road System (ERS), utilizing either inductive or conductive charging. Completing an European network for ERS would be optimal, considering the daily cross-border transportation undertaken by heavy-duty trucks. Given the challenges in constructing a full European network at once, it is recommended to start an ERS infrastructure between two major freight handling points to guarantee high initial utilization. Numerous studies and pilot projects have investigated ERS technologies, with the Overhead Catenary Line system currently standing out as the most mature technology. However, existing studies primarily focus on the technical aspects or cost-effectiveness of ERS technology, neglecting a crucial aspect—the Social Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA) that evaluates the socio-economic impact of implementing an Overhead Catenary Line system. Moreover, these studies mostly looked into the implementation of a larger ERS network. Consequently, the main research question is formulated: What is the socio-economic feasibility of the implementation of an Electric Road System (ERS), the overhead catenary line system, between two freight handling points?
The shift towards electrification has already begun, with the introduction of battery trucks alongside diesel trucks. Hence, a transitional phase involving a mix of diesel and battery trucks is anticipated in the coming years (the zero alternative). The study has focused on testing one policy measure, namely the implementation of an ERS infrastructure between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. The implementation of an ERS network, extend the truck fleet (consisting of diesel trucks and battery trucks), with a new type: the catenary trucks. This is the so called policy scenario (anticipated completion by 2030), which has been compared with the zero alternative. Three distinct route alternatives between the ports were assessed through SCBA, revealing that implementing an ERS infrastructure proves welfare enhancing for all three route alternatives, thus demonstrating the socio-economic feasibility of the policy measure. Furthermore, among the route alternatives (the Western route, the Middle route and the Eastern route), the Eastern route presents the most favorable Net Present Value outcomes for ERS infrastructure. However, conducting further studies encompassing research variables and non-monetized factors arising from ERS infrastructure implementation is necessary. This comprehensive analysis is crucial for informed decision making regarding the successful implementation of an Electric Road System.

Collaborative Port Call Optimization (PCO) is a key strategy to improve port efficiency. This study aims to bridge existing research gaps by providing a holistic understanding of collaborative PCO adoption, emphasizing the complexities of multi-organization collaboration and the influence of emerging technologies within the nautical chain and Port Governance structures. The TOEI framework, a novel conceptual model that extends the Technological Organizational-Environmental (TOE) framework, offers a valuable tool for port authorities and operators, providing specific insights and recommendations to enhance port call processes collaboratively. The study targets not only academics but also policymakers, port authorities, and nautical service providers. The findings discovered through the empirical analysis and the development of the TOE framework provide valuable insights for ports seeking to enhance their port calls collaboratively, laying the groundwork for future research, encouraging further exploration of specific contextual factors, in-depth case studies, and the development of tailored strategies for diverse ports globally.

This research proposes a new concept of electric bus with adjustable interior modules. By installing different modules, it can adjust both its internal layout and battery capacity spontaneously to make itself resemble an electric city bus or an electric regional bus when it is needed. It makes use of difference between peak times of regional lines and city lines so that it provides the same service as one city bus and one regional bus can do. This research firstly verified the timetable feasibility of this adjustable electric bus. It turns out that one vehicle is able to operate both city and regional bus network with observable resilience, reduction of minimum vehicle number and saving of electricity consumption. However adjustable BEB is limited by its high purchasing and operation cost, making it not highly profitable in a whole concession period. Accordingly, this research suggests low-entry utility electric bus is the more reliable and cost-efficient choice to carry out combined network operation.

Autonomous delivery robots are a promising alternative for last-mile delivery. To realise successful implementation of delivery robots in the public space, it is important to study the interaction between robot and environment. The traffic environment includes the physical infrastructure, traffic conditions and the people using the environment. This research proposes an assessment method that can be applied to determine the ‘roboreadiness’ of a traffic environment. This expresses whether the environment is ready for delivery robots to drive there. The performance of new transport concepts and the acceptance of innovations in the transport system are studied in a literature review, leading to the important factors. This is translated into a conceptual model which is the basis for the development of the method. To be able to assess the factors, suitable sub-methods are chosen and elaborated. To study the performance of the robot in its traffic environment a test-case can be performed and to examine the social acceptance a survey can be conducted. Analysing the resulting data leads to the level of roboreadiness. As a final step in the development of the method, a validation is carried out. While demonstrating the assessment method, it follows that the method is suitable for determining the level of performance, social acceptance and consequently the roboreadiness. In addition, first insights regarding the performance and social acceptance of the delivery robot at the campus of the Erasmus University Rotterdam are presented. The proposed assessment method can be used to collect data that can be useful for future projects. Although the method is valid, suggestions for improvements are made for further research.

Testing Sidewalk Autonomous Delivery Robot (SADR) performance in real world conditions is important to prove whether the innovation is ready for large-scale adoption. Currently, testing SADRs in public is not allowed in the Netherlands, because little is known about the actual risks associated with delivery robots, and the risks are currently difficult to assess because the robots are continuously evolving. Since the adoption of SADRs can reduce the negative effects of last mile logistics, in this article a theoretical dynamic assessment framework for the safe and sustainable performance of delivery robots is proposed. It is explored that there exist different degrees of relative difficulty within the Operational
Design Domain of SADRs and a set of adapted metrics to objectively and completely quantify and qualify factors that cause this relative difficulty is drawn up. On this basis, the dynamic assessment framework has been developed. Both the theory of relative Operational Design Domain Difficulty and the proposed dynamic assessment framework have been validated with experts. Delivery robots can be safely tested in public, because based on the dynamic assessment framework and a living lab approach, associated risks can be constantly minimised.

A rapid increase in international trade volumes during recent years has led to truck congestion at container terminals’ gates during peak hours. This has consequences on the costs of trucking companies waiting long times behind the gates. Furthermore, it leads to containers arriving too late at the hinterland, a lower port attractiveness and high emissions of idling trucks. One possible policy to deal with this issue is to steer trucking companies towards night-time transport. However, this requires hubs with extended opening hours. The objective of this research is to investigate the implication of such policy further by evaluating and simulating the actors and their (inter)actions in the container transport system. This research uses a combination of qualitative (semi-structured interviews with actors) and quantitative (agent-based modelling, discrete event simulation, queueing theory and discrete choice modelling) methods to assess the impact of hubs with extended opening hours on freight transport under various scenarios. These scenarios compare possibilities for a chassis-exchange or a container hub and investigate the choice of trucking companies to use such hubs. Results determine that if a container hub would be introduced, other actors need to partly pay for trucking companies using the hub so that the hub capacity is fully used. This study reveals concrete recommendations on the type and location of the hubs to mitigate waiting times at terminals' gates and transport more containers per day. For example, a chassis-exchange hub can reduce the total waiting time at four container terminals by 420 hours per day. If trucking companies would invest in a chassis-exchange scenario, the profit is estimated to be around two to four thousand euros per day.

Online meal delivery platforms are growing worldwide. Nevertheless, the takeaway business model is currently the major source of plastic packaging waste generation. The alarming growth of plastic pollution leads to action among governments worldwide resulting in single-use plastic bans. A handful of start-ups offer reusable food container services. However, no online meal delivery platform has adopted such as service. The market size of these initiatives is therefore still small. There is no proof of concept on a larger scale. For this purpose, this study identifies, defines, and evaluates reusable food container handling methods in the meal delivery industry. We conduct a simulation study to measure the environmental- and economical performance of different container handling methods. Our experimental findings suggest that: (i) food container returnment by drivers results in the largest amount of cost- and emission savings, (ii) customer returnment to any random reusable restaurant results in a less controllable system, resulting in more redistribution events, higher costs, and more emissions, (iii) the hybrid container handling method gives two options for return which enlarges the convenience for return by a wide variety of customers. We thus conclude that the passive handling method results in the largest cost- and emission savings, however, the practical implications i.a. concept convenience remains an important topic for further research.

In time of fast globalization and urbanization, the volumes of transported containers have significantly increased in the last decades. The challenges of operating with high volumes of containers have propagated from the deep-sea terminals into the hinterland network resulting in extensive use of road transportation, long waiting times and high carbon emissions. Synchromodal transport has addressed these challenges by promoting integration of services and real-time decisioning to increase the overall flexibility of the system. However, little is known about the effects of applying flexible concepts on operational planning decisions and whether these decisions have reflection on the performance of the system when centrally taken. This paper proposes a research for a design of an operational strategy which supports operational decisions on container routing and mode choice among trucks and barges. Model Predictive Control planning approach is applied to optimize the simultaneous routing of containers, trucks, and barges. The effectiveness the proposed strategy is evaluated in the presences of increased container volumes and compared to a Benchmark strategy by the means of simulation experiments. The impact of implementing flexible decisions on system performance and realized operational costs is investigated.