An integration platform for synchromodal transport

Prince Mayurank Singh

    Research output: ThesisPhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT

    1401 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Transportation sector plays an important role in the growth of national economies. Advances in information
    technology have facilitated newcollaboration opportunities among transport companies. Ubiquitous and faster
    internet now enables transport companies to access real time data about events in a transport network. New
    collaboration opportunities and access to real time data, have given rise to new transport practices.
    Synchromodal Transport (SmT) or Synchromodality, is a new transport practice, where the route and transport
    mode for transporting cargo is chosen dynamically, i.e., while the cargo is in-transit. If a disruption event
    occurs, causing a delay in transportation, the cargo may be shifted to another transport mode.
    Existing research over SmT is biased towards routing and capacity planning challenges posed by SmT. Data
    integration challenges posed by SmT, have not received their due attention from researchers. The primary data
    integration challenge is the integration of contextual events data and transport planning data. This dissertation
    provides a solution to data integration challenges posed by SmT, by designing a Synchromodal Transport
    Integration Platform (SmTIP).
    I, designed SmTIP based on the results of three research activities. The first research activity is SmT stakeholders’
    interview, which resulted in a list of requirements for SmTIP. The second research activity is analysis
    of SmT practices, which resulted in a list of relevant contextual events and processes for a SmT scenario. The
    third research activity is studying the state-of-the-art in integration platform design, which resulted in a reference
    architecture for integration platforms.
    I, then, developed a prototype based on SmTIP. The prototype integrates transport data and contextual events
    data, enables dynamic transport planning and in case of a disruption event, changing the transport mode of
    cargo. When representatives from transport companies used SmTIP prototype, their responses induced improvements
    in SmTIP design.
    This dissertation is useful for transport companies, researchers in transportation sector and information technology
    sector. Transport companies can get acquainted with, SmT processes, relevant contextual events, data
    integration challenges posed by SmT and how to overcome them.
    Researchers in transportation sector, can use this dissertation as an introduction to SmT. It will help them understand
    SmT scenario, SmT processes and relevant disruption events. Documented responses of transport
    companies’ representatives during SmTIP validation will help researchers in the future improvement of SmTIP
    and in designing validation experiment setups. This dissertation enhances SmT research. It fills the research
    gap of SmT data integration challenges by: (1) identifying the data integration challenges, (2) listing the requirements
    for SmTIP, and (3) designing SmTIP to overcome them.
    Researchers and practitioners in information technology, can use the reference architecture for integration platforms
    to address data integration challenges in different application domains. For that purpose, the refinement
    of the reference architecture to SmT domain, as shown in this dissertation, may be used as a guide.
    v
    Summary of PhD thesis P.M.Singh
    Original languageEnglish
    QualificationDoctor of Philosophy
    Awarding Institution
    • University of Twente
    Supervisors/Advisors
    • Wieringa, R.J., Supervisor
    • van Sinderen, Marten J., Supervisor
    Award date18 Sept 2019
    Place of PublicationEnschede
    Publisher
    Print ISBNs978-90-365-4821-2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 18 Sept 2019

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