[Mar 10] Xiaokun WANG: Information technology and freight transportation: understanding the new trend using econometrics

The burgeoning information technology has brought significant changes to transportation system. First, as a result of the rapid growth of online shopping, more goods and services are delivered directly to residential units. The door-to-door deliveries improve residents’ accessibility to retail sector, and at the same time alter people’s travel behavior, create truck delivery trips. Information technology does not only change the freight demand pattern, but also changes freight carriers’ behavior: by facilitating carriers to share information more conveniently, carriers are now more influenced by their peers and interact with suppliers and receivers more intensively. All these changes need to be fully understood to allow better transportation system operation and management. By developing and applying behavioral-consistent econometric approaches to freight data, insights into this new trend in freight transportation can be gained.