Reframing reverse logistics, reducing costs

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Modeling the Transport Sector: The Role of Existing Fuel Taxes in Climate Policy

Existing fuel taxes play a major role in determining the welfare effects of exempting the transportation sector from measures to control greenhouse gases. To study this phenomenon we modify the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model to disaggregate the household transportation sector. This improvement requires an extension of the GTAP data set that underlies the model. The revised and extended facility is then used to compare economic costs of cap-and-trade systems differentiated by sector, focusing on two regions: the USA where the fuel taxes are low, and Europe where the fuel taxes are high. We find that the interplay between carbon policies and pre-existing taxes leads to different results in these regions: in the USA exemption of transport from such a system would increase the welfare cost of achieving a national emissions target, while in Europe such exemptions will correct pre-existing distortions and reduce the cost.

Cost-effectiveness of active transport for primary school children - Walking School Bus Program

Background : To assess from a societal perspective the incremental cost-effectiveness of the Walking School Bus (WSB) program for Australian primary school children as an obesity prevention measure. The intervention was modelled as part of the ACE-Obesity study, which evaluated, using consistent methods, thirteen interventions targeting unhealthy weight gain in Australian children and adolescents.

Methods : A logic pathway was used to model the effects on body mass index [BMI] and disability-adjusted life years [DALYs] of the Victorian WSB program if applied throughout Australia. Cost offsets and DALY benefits were modelled until the eligible cohort reached 100 years of age or death. The reference year was 2001. Second stage filter criteria ('equity', 'strength of evidence', 'acceptability', feasibility', sustainability' and 'side-effects') were assessed to incorporate additional factors that impact on resource allocation decisions.

Results : The modelled intervention reached 7,840 children aged 5 to 7 years and cost $AUD22.8M ($16.6M;$30.9M). This resulted in an incremental saving of 30 DALYs (7:104) and a net cost per DALY saved of $AUD0.76M ($0.23M; $3.32M). The evidence base was judged as 'weak' as there are no data available documenting the increase in the number of children walking due to the intervention. The high costs of the current approach may limit sustainability.

Conclusions : Under current modelling assumptions, the WSB program is not an effective or cost-effective measure to reduce childhood obesity. The attribution of some costs to non-obesity objectives (reduced traffic congestion and air pollution etc.) is justified to emphasise the other possible benefits. The program's cost-effectiveness would be improved by more comprehensive implementation within current infrastructure arrangements. The importance of active transport to school suggests that improvements in WSB or its variants need to be developed and fully evaluated.

Assessing cost-effectiveness in obesity : active transport program for primary school children— TravelSMART schools curriculum program

Background: To assess from a societal perspective the cost-effectiveness of a school program to increase active transport in 10- to 11-year-old Australian children as an obesity prevention measure.
Methods: The TravelSMART Schools Curriculum program was modeled nationally for 2001 in terms of its impact on Body Mass Index (BMI) and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) measured against current practice. Cost offsets and DALY benefits were modeled until the eligible cohort reached age 100 or died. The intervention was qualitatively assessed against second stage filter criteria (‘equity,’ ‘strength of evidence,’ ‘acceptability to stakeholders,’ ‘feasibility of implementation,’ ‘sustainability,’ and ‘side-effects’) given their potential impact on funding decisions.
Results: The modeled intervention reached 267,700 children and cost $AUD13.3M (95% uncertainty interval [UI] $6.9M; $22.8M) per year. It resulted in an incremental saving of 890 (95%UI –540; 2,900) BMI units, which translated to 95 (95% UI –40; 230) DALYs and a net cost per DALY saved of $AUD117,000 (95% UI dominated; $1.06M).
Conclusions: The intervention was not cost-effective as an obesity prevention measure under base-run modeling assumptions. The attribution of some costs to nonobesity objectives would be justified given the program’s multiple benefits. Cost-effectiveness would be further improved by considering the wider school community impacts.

Numerical Simulation Of Sediment Transport And Bedmorphology Around A Hydraulic Structure On A River

Scour around hydraulic structures is a critical problem in hydraulic engineering. Under prediction of scour depth may lead to costly failures of the structure, while over prediction might result in unnecessary costs. Unfortunately, up-to-date empirical scour prediction formulas are based on laboratory experiments that are not always able to reproduce field conditions due to complicated geometry of rivers and temporal and spatial scales of a physical model. However, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools can perform using real field dimensions and operating conditions to predict sediment scour around hydraulic structures. In Korea, after completing the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, several new weirs have been built across Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan Rivers. Consequently, sediment deposition and bed erosion around such structures have became a major issue in these four rivers. In this study, an application of an open source CFD software package, the TELEMAC-MASCARET, to simulate sediment transport and bed morphology around Gangjeong weir, which is the largest multipurpose weir built on Nakdong River. A real bathymetry of the river and a geometry of the weir have been implemented into the numerical model. The numerical simulation is carried out with a real hydrograph at the upstream boundary. The bedmorphology obtained from the numerical results has been validated against field observation data, and a maximum of simulated scour depth is compared with the results obtained by empirical formulas of Hoffmans. Agreement between numerical computations, observed data and empirical formulas is judged to be satisfactory on all major comparisons. The outcome of this study does not only point out the locations where deposition and erosion might take place depending on the weir gate operation, but also analyzes the mechanism of formation and evolution of scour holes after the weir gates.

Transport modelling: macro and micro simulation for the studied case of Funchal

The work done in this thesis attempts to demonstrate the importance of using models that can predict and represent the mobility of our society. To answer the proposed challenges two models were examined, the first corresponds to macro simulation with the intention of finding a solution to the frequency of the bus company Horários do Funchal, responsible for transport in the city of Funchal, and some surrounding areas. Where based on a simplified model of the city it was possible to increase the frequency of journeys getting an overall reduction in costs. The second model concerns the micro simulation of Avenida do Mar, where currently is being built a new roundabout (Praça da Autonomia), which connects with this avenue. Therefore it was proposed to study the impact on local traffic, and the implementation of new traffic lights for this purpose. Four possible situations in which was seen the possibility of increasing the number of lanes on the roundabout or the insertion of a bus lane were created. The results showed that having a roundabout with three lanes running is the best option because the waiting queues are minimal, and at environmental level this model will project fewer pollutants. Thus, this thesis presents two possible methods of urban planning. Transport modelling is an area that is under constant development, the global goal is to encourage more and more the use of these models, and as such it is important to have more people to devote themselves to studying new ways of addressing current problems, so that we can have more accurate models and increasing their credibility.

The sugar cane vegetal residues unloaded in the sugar mill: Operational costs and physical characteristics

Brazil produced in 2002/03 season 317.87×106tons of sugar cane stalks and 36.88×106tons of vegetal residues (green leaves, dry leaves and tops) in a planted area of 4.61×106 hectares (ha). These residues have a useful heat of 3,613.14Mcal.t-1. Currently most of this biomass is burned as a pre-harvest practice. The doubt persists in the system type that it must be adopted to pick up, load, transport and unload this biomass at the sugar mill boilers. This study analyzed 22 variables related to operational costs and physical characteristics of these residues in a field situation using a JOHN DEERE® 6850 forage harvester with two different treatments: T1 and T2 (two types of rakes) with 6 repetitions each one. The geographic location of the studied area that belongs to COSTA PINTO MILL (COSAN® Group) is: Latitude 22°40'30S and Longitude 47°36'38W. The adopted methodology was proposed by Ripoli et al. (2002). The obtained results at a 5% level of significance showed that both treatments did not differed significantly between them. Some of the results were, where EBP stands for Oil Equivalent Barrel: Windrowing (T1=US$0.17.EBP-1 and US$9.59.ha-1, T2=US$0.08.EBP-1 and US$4.27.ha-1); Pick up (T1=US$1.31.EBP-1 and US$44.29.ha-1, T2 =US$1.37.EBP-1 and US$48.36.ha-1); Transportation (T1=US$1.27.EBP-1 and US$14,30.ha -1, T2=US$1.33.EBP-1 and US$14,80.ha -1), Unloading at the sugar mill (T1=US$0.30.EBP-1 and US$3.39.ha-1, T2=US$0.32.EBP-1 and US$3.51.ha-1); Total (T1=US$3.05.EBP-1 and US$71.57.ha-1, T2=US$3.10.EBP-1 and US$70.94.ha-1). Confronting the obtained data with the ones in the bibliography, this system revealed itself more expensive than the baling system or the integral harvest system using combines.

Maritime transport liberalization and the challenges to further its implementation in Chile

Includes bibliography

Report on maritime transport and the environment for Latin America

Includes bibliography

Concessions and road and rail transport optimization

Includes bibliography

Infrastructure, transport and integration: the link with productive development and regional competitiveness

A vision of the role played by infrastructure, transport and related services in the development of competitiveness and productivity is fundamental for proposing public policies linked to productive development. In particular, the supply costs and the quality of public utility and transport services are extremely relevant to countries’ productivity, GDP growth and competitiveness, and also for the development and economic integration of Latin America.

The economic costs associated with landlocked status

Two Latin American republics, Bolivia and Paraguay, lack sovereign access to ocean ports. Their landlocked status effectively forces them to export and import products through borders with neighbouring countries; for this purpose, they frequently use land transport modes which are intrinsically more costly than ocean transport. However, being distant from ocean ports is an attribute not only of landlocked countries; but also of states or provinces, such as Mato Grosso, in Brazil, or Tucumán, in Argentina, which belong to countries with direct access to the sea. If perfect political and economic integration were to be achieved in the region, the distances and topographic accidents between points such as La Paz, Bolivia, and Arica, Chile, or Asunción, Paraguay and Paranaguá, Brazil, would remain unchanged. What would disappear would be the delays at border crossings and their related costs. For the two landlocked countries, border expenses, although significant, are a relatively small fraction of the cost of the land segments of international transport. More important for these countries, are the dependency of infrastructure services and the institutional framework of the transit countries for the transport of their external trade.

Maritime transport in the Caribbean

The purpose of the FAL Bulletin is to facilitate trade through efficient transport, and the current issue will focus particularly on the promotion of trade in the Caribbean. It will first highlight the relevance of maritime transport for the region's trade. Thereafter it will look at the costs and the various relations between maritime transport and trade, and also discuss some comparative advantages and disadvantages, such as location and the particular situation of being an island. Finally, the article points at some potential areas of improvement.

Ocean freight, shipbuilding costs and charter rates: recent trends

This issue of the Bulletin provides a brief overview of the maritime transport industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus on the behaviour of freight rates and the costs associated with chartering and shipbuilding, all of which increased sharply in 2003. Three separate markets will be analysed: 1) the containerized general cargo market; 2) the dry bulk cargo market and 3) the liquid bulk (crude oil and oil products) market. This study has incorporated contributions made by professional experts in the field and institutions associated with ports and maritime transport in the region, received subsequent to the study prepared and disseminated in January 2004.

Transport planning and its impact on city competitiveness

The economic and productive development of a region is closely tied to its transport infrastructure. Adequate transport infrastructure enables companies to increase their production levels as a result of lowered logistical costs, inventory savings and access to larger supply and labour markets. The competitiveness of a city depends on elements of its economy and other aspects such as social disciplines. Despite being a rather broadly defined concept, it is widely used to categorise and compare cities, projecting the image of a prosperous city in the public eye. The aim of this issue of the Bulletin is to identify the role played by investments in transport in the competitiveness of a specific city and to demonstrate the need for adequate transport planning to ensure that economic development does not interfere with the quality of life of city dwellers.