Akradiusz Drabicki - co-supervised by prof. Oded Cats (TU Delft) and prof. Andrzej Szarata (CUT Krakow).
Arek researched a novel and emerging research field - he tried to understand the impacts of futuristic RTCI: Real-time crowding information for Public Transport. He extended and developed new functionalities to BusMezzo and ended-up with remarkable stream of publications marking the new territory in Public Transport. He graduated in 2023.
List of main publications and preprints
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Should I stay or should I board? Willingness to wait with real-time crowding information in urban public transport
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
Cats, Oded,
Kucharski, Rafał,
Fonzone, Achille,
and Szarata, Andrzej
Research in Transportation Business & Management
2023
Overcrowding is a major phenomenon affecting travel experience in urban public transport, whose negative impacts can be potentially mitigated with real-time crowding information (RTCI) on public transport vehicle departures. In this study, we investigate the willingness to wait (WTW) with instantaneous RTCI to avoid the in-vehicle (over)crowding the passenger faces, focusing specifically on urban crowding context (i.e. bus and tram systems). We conduct a stated-preference survey in Krakow (Poland), where we examine the choice probability between boarding now a more crowded vehicle vs. waiting at the stop for a less-crowded PT departure, and estimate a series of discrete choice models. Results show that 50–70% of respondents consider skipping a first departure which is excessively overcrowded and 10–30% would skip a vehicle with moderate standing crowding on-board. Acceptable waiting times typically range between 2 and 13 min, depending on crowding level and propensity to arrive on-time, but may even exceed 20 min in individual cases. These findings indicate that RTCI can induce a substantial WTW, affecting travel behaviour. We discuss its implications for mitigating service disruptions and demand management policies, including prospective support for public transport recovery in the aftermath of covid-19 crisis.
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Mitigating bus bunching with real-time crowding information
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
Kucharski, Rafał,
and
Cats, Oded
Transportation
2022
A common problem in public transport systems is bus bunching, characterized by a negative feedback loop between service headways, number of boarding passengers and dwell times. In this study, we examine whether providing real-time crowding information (RTCI) at the stop regarding the two next vehicle departures can stimulate passengers to wait for a less-crowded departure, and thus alleviate the bunching effect. To this end, we leverage on results from own stated-preference survey and develop a boarding choice model. The model accounts for the presence of RTCI and is implemented within dynamic public transport simulation framework. Application to the case-study model of a major bus corridor in Warsaw (Poland) reveals that RTCI can induce a significant probability (30–70%) of intentionally skipping an overcrowded bus and waiting for a later departure instead. This behaviour, in turn, results in significantly lower vehicle headway and load variations, without deteriorations in total waiting utility. Overall, journey experience improves by 6%, and crucially—the prevalence of denial-of-boarding and excessive on-board overcrowding is substantially reduced, by ca. 40%. Results of our study indicate that the willingness to wait induced by RTCI can be a potential demand management strategy in counteracting bunching, with benefits already attainable at limited RTCI response rates.
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Modelling the effects of real-time crowding information in urban public transport systems
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
Kucharski, Rafał,
Cats, Oded,
and Szarata, Andrzej
Transportmetrica A: Transport Science
2021
Public transport (PT) overcrowding is a notorious problem in urban transport networks. Its negative effects upon travel experience can be potentially addressed by disseminating real-time crowding information (RTCI) to passengers. However, impacts of RTCI provision in urban PT networks remain largely unknown. This study aims to contribute by developing an extended dynamic PT simulation model that enables a thorough analysis of instantaneous RTCI consequences. In the model, RTCI is generated and disseminated across the network, and then utilised in passengers’ sequential en-route choices. A case-study demonstration of the RTCI algorithm on urban PT network model of Kraków (Poland) shows that instantaneous RTCI has the potential to improve passengers’ travel experience, although it is also susceptible to inaccuracy. RTCI provision can yield total travel utility improvements of 3% in typical PM peak-hour, with reduced impacts of the worst overcrowding effects (in terms of denied-boarding and in-vehicle travel disutility in overcrowded conditions) of 30%.
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Modelling the public transport capacity constraints impact on passenger path choices in transit assignment models
Drabicki, A.,
Kucharski, R.,
and Szarata, A.
Archives of Transport
2017
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Simulating the effects of real-time crowding information in public transport networks
Drabicki, A.,
Kucharski, R.,
Cats, O.,
and Fonzone, A.
2017
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Suppressing the effects of induced traffic in urban road systems: Impact assessment with macrosimulation tools-results from the city of Krakow (Poland)
Drabicki, A.,
Szarata, A.,
and Kucharski, R.
2020
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Willingness to wait with real-time crowding in urban public transport
Drabicki A., \textbfKucharski R.,
and O., Cats
2020, submitted to Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
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Can real-time crowding information help mitigate bus bunching?
Drabicki, A.,
\textbfKucharski, R.,
and
Cats, O.
2020,
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Zastosowanie ograniczeń przepustowości sieci transportu publicznego w makroskopowym modelu rozkładu ruchu
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
Kucharski, Rafał,
and Szarata, Andrzej
Transport Miejski i Regionalny
2016
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Analiza symulacyjna etapowej realizacji zachodnich odcinków III obwodnicy Krakowa i ich oddziaływania na układ transportowy
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
Szarata, Andrzej,
and Kucharski, Rafał
PrzeglÄ…d Komunikacyjny = Transportation Overview
2018
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Modelowanie skutków zjawiska wzbudzenia (tłumienia) ruchu w analizach efektywności miejskich inwestycji drogowych
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
Szarata, Andrzej,
and Kucharski, Rafał
2019
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Analiza symulacyjna postulowanych zmian w ciągu III oraz II obwodnicy Krakowa i ich oddziaływania na układ drogowy miasta pod kątem potencjalnego zjawiska ruchu wzbudzonego
Drabicki, Akradiusz,
Szarata, Andrzej,
and Kucharski, Rafał
Transport Miejski i Regionalny
2018
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Zjawisko bus bunching w transporcie zbiorowym i jego odwzorowanie symulacyjne
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
Kucharski, Rafał,
and Szarata, Andrzej
2017
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Analiza i porównanie metod wyboru trasy przejazdu pasażera transportem publicznym
Drabicki, Arkadiusz,
and Kucharski, Rafał
In X Konferencja Naukowo-Techniczna Poznań-Rosnówko
2015
