Many national and international bodies, such as the European Commission, encourage the use of environment-friendly transport modes. Local and national authorities take more and more measures, for instance road pricing, loading/ unloading spaces and low-emission zones, to prevent negative transport-related externalities in urban areas. Hence, transport and logistics operators consider alternative ways to deliver goods in urban areas by using electric vehicles, cargo bikes, inland vessels and rail transport. Which of these alternative modes is appropriate for which transport flow depends on multiple factors, including the available transport infrastructure, the goods volume, the measures taken by the authorities and the presence of congestion. This paper focuses on urban freight transport by tram and the conditions for a successful implementation. A successful implementation is defined as an implementation that is viable, i.e. the difference between the change of the costs and the change of the benefits exceeds a certain threshold value. The viability is studied from a business-economic and a socioeconomic perspective for a dedicated freight tram, a freight wagon behind a passenger tram and the transport of parcels by a passenger tram. A viability model is developed, based on a social cost-benefit analysis. The working of this model is illustrated by applying it to the city of Antwerp. The main findings show that the use of a freight wagon attached to a passenger tram provides more potential than a dedicated freight tram. A courier taking the tram to deliver some parcels can be viable as well. For all three types of tram transport, the socioeconomic benefits exceed the business-economic ones. Critical factors affecting the viability include the transported volume, the efficiency of the current road transport, the timing of the transport, the need for post-haulage and the operational costs of both road and rail.

As a solution for increasing urban freight distribution issues, such as rising vehicle movements, more environment-friendly transport modes including rail could be an option. So far, investigation within this domain has been confined primarily to applying (social) cost-benefit analyses to specific cases. These existing (social) cost-benefit analyses show the importance of external costs in the profitability calculations of urban rail freight initiatives. Therefore, accurate and appropriate external cost data are crucial for the robustness of a social cost-benefit framework. This paper identifies firstly the external cost elements related to the use of trams and trains for urban freight distribution. Secondly, a range of common external cost values is provided for Belgian and Flemish urban areas. A minimum and maximum value is determined for each external cost, when available data allowed this. In further research, these values will be used as input for a generic social cost-benefit framework to assess the potential of trains and trams for urban freight distribution.

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Ports are crucial links in supply chains, creating wealth for adjacent regions. Concerning port competitiveness, it is indicated in literature that good hinterland connections are crucial. Therefore, this chapter offers a framework to make decisions about hinterland connections. To do this, analysis of scientific studies and consulting reports was conducted in combination with discussions with experts. Last, the structure of analysis is applied upon the Port of Zeebruges, which features a strong imbalance between its strong maritime potential, and the relatively weak hinterland connections. The analysis results in strategies of optimizing the strategic decision making. From the real option theory, it is clear that a phased strategy is most suitable. The integrated analysis provides a framework to make investment decisions about port investments in general and hinterland connections in particular, and a pathway solution to a concrete case. Therefore, the study is relevant for policy makers and scientific researchers.