Institute of Transportation, MOTC

        The multimodal network design problem is often used to evaluate the benefits of transportation investment. Since the freight modelling shared the same network with passenger modelling, the network model formulated with both elements. The research establishes the transportation investment projects on the borders to take the cross-border factor into consideration to discuss how the project combination make changes on both regional and single-country government’s perspective. The mentioned benefit is the travel time saving value generated by making improvements on the cross-border facilitations. The model is formulated with a bi-level programming. The upper-level model is a discrete optimization algorithm designed by the concept of knapsack problem to determine the best combination of investment projects that the network benefit is maximized, whilst the network benefit is calculated by the simulation of the network under implementing the selected projects in the lower-level model. The model is applied to a large-scale multimodal multi-region network to show that the bi-level mechanism works. In the case example, it generated good benefits in both BBIN region and Bangladesh network when implemented the investment on Tamabil and Bhomra cross-border points, but it performed better with additional project on Sheola in BBIN region than in Bangladesh network since it would bring heavier congestion in Bangladesh. As stated above, the model provides the investors with different evaluation aspects when doing decision-making on cross-border investments.