Project Title: Tariff Modeling of Collective Urban Transport

GENERAL DATA

1. Funding period: 18 months

2. Project summary (not to exceed 1 page; may be published by KBN if grant is awarded):
Prices for urban transport services are both an element of provider’s marketing system and an instrument of local transport policy. Therefore, the price acts as a key competitive fac-tor in collective transport, and modelling tariff systems approached as a process of formalised shaping of their development has not only cognitive, but also practical significance for public authorities in charge of transport as well as urban transport operators.
The project will consist of a theoretical part, empirical part and conclusions. The theoreti-cal part will include an in-depth analysis of the literature and source materials and the preparation of measurement tools necessary for conducting the empirical part. The objective of the research will be identifying tariff systems used in Poland and the remaining countries of the European Union (capital cities and towns of population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants will be studied). Particularly, the following will be identified: the offer and way of organisation of urban transport systems, price level in the basic tariff segments, internal and external urban transport service price substitution, tariff rates differentiation criteria, the cost level of substitutional individual transport (fuel prices, parking costs). The empirical research will be based on secondary information sources (literature, databases, the internet) and questionnaires directed to specific units (municipal authorities, municipal transport organizers and operators). Based on the empirical research, the following factors will be identified: the existing tariff models in Europe, correspondence of the tariffs to the transport offer and organisation, specific solutions applied (as a source of the so called "good practice"), competitiveness with regard to individual transport.
The results of the research will be the basis for drawing up the recommendations for the city transport in Poland (for organisers, operators and local authorities).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION, METHODOLOGY, AND EXPECTED RESULTS

1. What problem is being proposed and why? Why should this work be undertaken in Poland?
The aim of the project is identifying the models and factors shaping collective transport as well as estimating price competitiveness of urban transport.
The basic problems connected to price competitiveness of urban transport are price levels, their diversification, internal and external price substitution. The Polish urban transport tariffs are among most complex ones in Europe (numerous subject-based services, price diversifica-tion according to different - sometimes contradictory - criteria in respective ticket segments). This makes tariffs less effective - both as a competitive factor and the tool for increasing ser-vice providers’ efficiency. Therefore, the issue in question is not only of an academic, but also practical significance.

2. What is the present state of knowledge in the field, and to what extent does this project verify it? How will the project advance discovery and understanding in its field or across fields? Is this a new or a continued problem?
Research on the prices of urban transport services have been so far conducted only as a part of benchmarking of urban transport in Europe; it have not focused on tariffs, and re-garded a small number of cities (especially few in the new member states of the European Un-ion). Polish literature shows a distinct gap in this respect, it also lacks a monograph presenting the issues of tariff shaping in urban transport, including proposals for applications of practical scientific recommendations.

3. What is the proposed methodology? How will it solve the problem? What equipment will be used? Does the applicant have the required equipment skills and access?
The basis for reasoning will be empirical research during which, using various methods of research (questionnaires, secondary data analysis) directed to different entities (municipal authorities as well as municipal transport organisers and operators), it is planned to collect the information related to basic collective transport tariff parameters as well as the factors influencing price competitiveness of collective transport. It is planned to research over 100 cities in the EU countries, these will be the biggest cities in Europe. The collected, verified data will be classified and examined for mutual relations with the aim of formulating theoretical and practical conclusions. The research will use computer equipment and databases made available to the research team by the School of Economics.

4. What are the expected results of this project (“know-how”, patents, methods, equipment), and how will they be disseminated (publications, conference presentations, PhD theses)?
The measurable, documented outcome of the project will be a method for tariff examination as well as an in-depth analysis of the tariff models existing in Europe. Practical recommendations, useful for applying in Poland, will be formulated.
The research results will be the subject of scientific publications (both national and international).
The conclusions of the research along with the practical recommendations will be the subject of a scientific monograph and will also be used in the postdoctoral dissertation by doctor Grzegorz Dydkowski.