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Design of Distance Tariffs in Public Transport

Authors Philine Schiewe , Anita Schöbel , Reena Urban

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OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.11.pdf
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ACM Subject Classification
  • Applied computing → Transportation
  • Mathematics of computing → Mixed discrete-continuous optimization
Keywords
  • public transport
  • fare strategy
  • distance tariff

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Abstract

Setting the ticket prices is a crucial decision in public transport. Its basis, relevant for all related questions, such as dynamic prices or prices for different passenger groups, is the underlying fare strategy. Popular fare strategies are based on zones or on distances. Transitions from one fare strategy to another occur frequently, e.g., if public transport operators are joined to a larger association, or if structural decisions in a region have taken place.
In this paper we report practically relevant issues when a fare structure should be changed to a distance tariff, a problem frequently arising when a ticket system based on mobile devices is introduced. We present mixed-integer linear programs for finding the parameters of a distance tariff, analyze rounding properties, and reflect how the change in revenue for the operator and the number of highly affected passengers can be controlled. Additionally, we evaluate the developed models experimentally.

Cite As Get BibTex

Philine Schiewe, Anita Schöbel, and Reena Urban. Design of Distance Tariffs in Public Transport. In 25th Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2025). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 137, pp. 11:1-11:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025) https://doi.org/10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.11

Author Details

Philine Schiewe
  • Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis, Aalto University, Finland
Anita Schöbel
  • Department of Mathematics, RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau, Germany
  • Fraunhofer Institute of Industrial Mathematics ITWM, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Reena Urban
  • Department of Mathematics, RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, Germany

Funding

  • Urban, Reena: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [Grant 875022] and by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research [Project 01UV2152B] under the project sEAmless SustaInable EveRyday urban mobility (EASIER).

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