Delimiting the scope of the hinterland of ports: Proposal and case study

• Published in: Journal of transport geography Vol. 65; pp. 35 - 43
• Main Authors: Moura, Ticiana Grecco Zanon, Garcia-Alonso, Lorena, Salas-Olmedo, María Henar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Case studies; Containers; Export flows; Hinterland; Huff model; Inland traffic; Ports; Spatial Interaction Models; Studies; Travel; Spain; Hinterland; Ports; Inland traffic; Export flows; Huff model; Spatial Interaction Models
• ISSN: 0966-6923; 1873-1236
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2017.09.012

The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to delimit the scope of the hinterland of ports as accurately and simply as possible. To achieve this goal, the Huff model was adapted. In order to verify the validity of the proposal, it was applied to the Spanish case. As repulsion and attraction factors, both key aspects in the Spatial Interaction Models, the province-port travel time along the road network and the container throughput of the ports were considered respectively. The estimated hinterland of the analysed container ports fits well the observed flows. The obtained results confirm that the proposal made allows to identify the scope of the hinterland of ports in an effective an easy way, which is of interest both to stakeholders and policy makers. •The Huff model was adapted to delimit the hinterland of ports.•Repulsion and attraction factors were considered.•Hinterlands are heavily influenced by travel time and container throughput.•For the Spanish ports, travel distance is more relevant.•The Spanish ports compete for traffic generated in North-Eastern corner.