Back to the Water? Commercial Feasibility of UrbanWaterway Transportation in Gothenburg

Abstract: Urban freight transport is vital in sustaining urban economies and life, since it carries the required goods and the generated waste in cities. Meanwhile, it also has several negative external impacts, which are considerably affecting the lives and well-being of local populations. As urbanization continues throughout the world, these negative effects will be further enhanced because of growing transportation needs. The city of Gothenburg is also expanding, which prompted stakeholders, who are directly and indirectly involved in the freight transport system, to explore more sustainable urban freight transport solutions. One of these possible solutions is urban waterway transportation, as the city provides suitable infrastructure to accommodate both goods and waste transportation over the river. However, for a successful implementation of a transport service it’s not enough to prove the technical feasibility, the long-term economic feasibility also has to be demonstrated to convince the financially involved actors, which means the solution needs a viable business model. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to analyse the business aspects of operating an urban waterway transport service of goods and waste in Gothenburg, and to examine which are the critical parts of the business model that influence the commercial feasibility of this service. In order to fulfil this purpose, a scenario analysis was conducted with observations and in-depth interviews with several actors who are knowledgeable about the Gothenburg freight transport situation, as well as have specialised experience concerning waterway transport. The findings suggest that the critical parts are the value proposition and externalities, key partners and cost structure of the business model. As a result, the thesis contributes to the research field of waterway transport business aspects and aid the city of Gothenburg in its search for possible sustainable freight transport solutions.