Transport Models & Forecasts
MDS Transmodal's approach to consultancy is, where appropriate, to write bespoke software and models that enable robust use of evidence to explain the way in which aspects of the freight industry work. This allows the impact of a range of external effects to be tested and calculated. These could be fiscal such as lorry road user charging or new locations for large scale distribution activities, for example.
GBFM – the Great Britain Freight Model
GBFM is an integrated software/database system linking domestic and international GB freight data with simple economic models for explaining freight demand and allowing trend and scenario based forecasting.
UK Rail Forecasts
MDS Transmodal in conjunction with the Rail Freight Group and the Freight Transport Association produce such forecasts. These line-by-line forecasts enable the railway industry to plan for the future with correctly targeted improvements to the network.
LINCOST
LINCOST was developed to model liner services from short sea ferry to deep-sea container. Analysing these services is more complex than analysing bulk carrier trades: liner services pass through many ports picking up and dropping off cargo en route, while bulk trades are usually confined to origin/destination trades. The ability to model this complexity can be very useful.