To achieve these objectives, we tested background questions and choice
menus both to represent shippers’ decision-making settings and to capture
shippers’ preferences within our hypothetical mix of modal alternatives under
carbon pricing. The information and wording seeding the SCE was pre-tested
and piloted among industry stakeholders to enable the development of an
appropriate and effective survey instrument that helps to answer key policy
questions including the extent to which: (i) shippers are sensitive to trade-offs
between door-to-door price and level-of-service attributes such as transit time,
reliability (in terms of both on-time performance and significant delay) and frequency
of departure; (ii) constraints on delivery windows influence these sensitivities;
(iii) perishability of the cargo influences these sensitivities; (iv) intermodal
competitiveness varies across each origin–destination pair; and (v) preferences
for short sea shipping alternatives vary with respect to not only cost/level-ofservice
trade-offs, but also to whether the alternative is a domestic-flag or foreignflag
vessel.