RT 44 – Yuval Hadas – Transfers, dynamic fares, priority and chewing gum?

Researching Transit · RT 44 – Yuval Hadas – Transfers, dynamic fares, priority and chewing gum?

Researching Transit – Episode 44

Published: April 2023

Keywords: Public transport, transfers, real-time operations management, dynamic fares

Researching Transit comes to you this episode from the Conference on Advanced Systems in Public Transport (CASPT2022) in Tel Aviv, Israel. Here Professor Graham Currie met with one of the conference organisers, Dr Yuval Hadas from Bar-Ilan University, which is in Ramat Gan, a city near Tel Aviv.

Yuval is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and the Head of Supply Chain Management and Logistics Graduate programs. Graham and Yuval initially discuss the Department’s focus on city logistics and supply-chain management. However, freight movement has many similarities to people movement, and Yuval’s research and work provide connections to transit, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and transport management.

Yuval describes how transfers are an inevitable, yet difficult, part of public transport. He and Graham discuss how networks can be designed to minimise transfers (as in Paul Mees’ ‘Squaresville’ model), but that transfer-free, point-to-point services for all riders are not practical. Yuval then outlines his research about improving transfers for passengers using real-time service changes, such as skipping stops, to optimise outcomes. He and Graham briefly discuss some of the challenges with implementation, with real-time changes to services unlikely to be popular with those passengers waiting at a skipped stop regardless of overall benefits. However, Yuval highlights that real-time fare pricing adjustments might be one way to offset impacts on different users. This connects to Yuval’s other research on dynamic fare pricing for transit services.

Graham and Yuval discuss how variable pricing is already well established in transport systems. Examples include congestion-based road pricing systems, some toll lanes, and off-peak ticketing for some transit services. However, dynamic pricing in transit is, as yet, only informal and non-financial, with passengers often incentivised to wait for the next bus or travel outside of peak times to avoid crowding. Yuval discusses his research examining how this might be taken to the next level, with passengers offered a discount to avoid boarding an overcrowded vehicle. This might allow space to be left available for those further down the line, those with special needs, or those who are not as able or willing to travel later.

Yuval also outlines his research into bus lanes and similar priority measures for on-road transit services. This focuses on evaluating priority across an entire network, not just on a segment-by-segment basis. The research seeks to develop a set of solutions that have similar overall (technical) benefits, rather than just a single `optimal’ solution, so that decision-makers can take non-technical issues into consideration when selecting a desired option.

Chewing gum might seem an odd topic for transit, but Yuval has been involved research about this, caffeine and bus driver vigilance. He and Graham discuss a case-control study that found caffeinated chewing-gum improved driver performance in less than ten minutes, whereas an ordinary cup of coffee did not (see https://doi.org/10.3141/2602-04). Finally, Yuval briefly tells Graham about some of his current research looking into electric vehicles, batteries and power supply.

Find out more about Yuval and his work at his: