Ravibabu Manchala

Domestic Movement of Indian Export Cargo Containerized on Sea: Discrete Choice Modelling of Mode Preferences Ravibabu Manchala

Containerisation facilitated cargo aggregation at inland terminals and made rail transport competitive for movement of less than full train load shipments. In this scenario, what factors are critical in choosing between rail container, truck container and truck in break bulk in inland movement of export cargo forms the central theme of the book. As this is the first published research on revealed preference analysis of freight cargo in India the author forays into a number of areas to complete the study. The study delineates the process of mode choice decision making, the critical decision maker and the role of other players in the decision making. It also builds extensive data base and methodological framework to develop various mode choice variables. Finally with these tools the author develops a nested logit model for the mode choice. It also shows the importance of attributes not related to transport in mode choice. The study further explores on the implication of the model for development of containerisation and multimodal movement in India. It also estimates the price elasticity and highlights why the policy of continual rise of freight prices is bad economics.