From mental to modal shift

The interest of academics, policy makers and transport-related companies for intermodal transport has increased strongly during the past two decades. After all, intermodal transport – defined as the transport of loadings units (such as containers) by different transport modes, without handling the goods when changing modes – is in many cases an alternative to unimodal road transport that has a smaller impact on society due to its lower emissions, accident risk, noise etc. The share of freight flows in the total transport market that opts for intermodal alternatives, however, remains limited both in Europe and in Belgium. Many different policies have nevertheless been introduced, and a vast body of literature has been developed, to facilitate and enhance the use of intermodal transport. Research shows that a major barrier to the increased use of intermodal transport relates to inertia and unawareness in decisionmaking. The research question tackled in this thesis therefore is: ‘(How) can different actors, involved in the transport system, be supported in their decision-making to increase the market share of intermodal transport in Belgium?’