Reducing congestion in urban transport by using intermodal transport solutions

The impact of freight transport on the economy, society and environment has been defined and recognized as an essential element of the European integrations. The increase in the freight transport share has also raised the density of traffic on the urban roads, which in turn raised the problem of traffic flows in the cities, congestion, traffic sustainability and environmental pollution. The past research related to solving the congestion problem in the cities was based on the tendencies to improve the entire transport system. One of the ways is to shift a certain volume of freight from road to other transport branches, which results in the reduction of the number of heavy freight vehicles on the roads and reduction of the adverse impact, i.e. use of intermodal transport which is more environmentally friendly and influences the increase of longevity and organization of urban and suburban traffic. Arguments supporting the mentioned hypotheses include the following. Interoperability as the basic precondition for the development of combined transport can be technical, functional, and market-oriented. Interoperability insures the continuous flow of freight through the entire transport chain, and easier and faster transport of freight and people through the urban areas. Traffic infrastructure has to support the need for different modes of transport; rail transport, road transport and water transport. Successful operation of combined transport (neutral to the mode of transport) requires the management of the entire transport chain (logistics), freight control, so that freight can be tracked at any moment, as well as the freight safety in the transport chain.