This paper presents an approach to address the problem of location of international multimodal logistics hubs (IMLHs) in the international multimodal network from the perspective of accessibility. The approach has three phases: constructing multiple accessibility indices, identifying the candidate IMLHs, and determining the optimal IMLHs. First, seven accessibility indices are constructed considering multiple transport segments and modes in the international transportation chain. Second, several candidate IMLHs are identified according to the integrated accessibility calculated by a modified GRA-TOPSIS (grey relational analysis technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution). Third, an accessibility-based gravity p-median model is established to determine optimal IMLHs. Finally, the approach is applied to IMLHs in China. The results show that the distribution of the identified 28 candidate IMLHs is reasonable, and the 15 optimal IMLHs can serve most of the cargo origins in China. The study provides support for decision-makers in the location of multimodal transportation hubs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.