Freight transportation is both multimodal and intermodal in nature, involving highways, railways, waterways, air transportaiton, terminals, and intermodal transfers. Multimodal and intermodal orientation holds major promise in significantly improving freight transportation efficiency. Wise investment in the development of multimodal and intermodal infrastructure can effectively remove major bottlenecks on freight networks, expand shipping alternatives, reduce congestion and environmental impact, and improve safety and efficiency of the entire transportation system.
In this project, a multimodal network that combines airway linkages, highways, railways, waterways, and intermodal facilities has been developed to form an integrated analysitical frieght network, referred to as the Florida Multimodal Network (FMN). The network consists of five separate sub-networks, each of which represents a specific mode. The sub-networks are interconnected by special links that represent the intermodal transfer facilities and that allow freight movements to change mode by flowing from one sub-network to another.