THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INTERMODAL TRANSPORT ROUTE THROUGH THE PORT OF RIJEKA FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

Abstract

The road transport generates benefits to the economic development of each country, but it also produces the largest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of road transport on the environment and to emphasize the requirement for its substitution by environmentally-friendly transport branches. An intermodal overseas transport route between the Southeast Europe countries and the North Adriatic Italian ports through the Port of Rijeka (Bakar Ro-ro terminal) as a junction point is analysed. The scope of this paper is to highlight the significance of the introduction of new seaborne truck traffic services from the Southeast Europe countries to the North Adriatic Italian port terminals for the reduction of vehicles gas emissions and sustainable development. The main research findings of the article are: the introduction of the new intermodal transport route from the Port of Rijeka to the North Adriatic Italian ports will decrease the gas emission from heavy vehicles operating on the North Adriatic transport route and thus contribute to sustainable transport. The methodology used in this paper consists of the analysis of the impact of road transport to the environment as well as the analysis of the implementation of the Bakar Ro-ro terminal and its influence to the road infrastructure in the Rijeka traffic junction. Further research regarding the possibility of reducing heavy vehicle road traffic through the North Adriatic should be deal with introducing an intermodal railway transport.

Key words: Port of Rijeka, Bakar Ro-ro terminal, road transport, intermodal transport, sustainable transport