Transportation planning for ferry services by using a continuous approximation model: the case of the Aegean Islands, Greece

ABSTRACT

Continuous Approximation (CA) models have been used to solve transportation problems due to their ability to efficiently model complex transportation systems and offer flexibility in testing alternative policies.  The current study develops a CA model for optimizing transportation planning for ferry services. The model is tested in a case study for a ferry network in the Aegean Sea, Greece. The specific network is chosen due to the high seasonal demand changes that the network experiences. For this reason, three strategies and three scenarios for each strategy are modeled, resulting in nine cases, to test the developed method. The three strategies reflect fleet size and ferry trip variations, while the three scenarios reflect variations in demand for each quarter of the year. The analysis shows that the estimated impacts provide an understanding of the relationship between time delay and operational costs, and the trade-offs between different strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Continuous approximation model
• ferry services
• ship demand
• routing decision
• maritime transport
• seasonal effects

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research is not funded by any public/private organization.