SBB Research Fund

The SBB Research Fund supports research on current issues concerning the Swiss transport network that have been neglected in the Swiss or international context.

Objectives of the Research Fund

The SBB Research Fund for research in transport management has the following objectives: 

  • Supporting research in current issues concerning the transport network in Switzerland or in the international context with a special focus on innovation and the future of mobility. 
  • Examining practical issues in transport studies, exploring innovative ideas and collating and bringing together knowledge about the public transport network in Switzerland in order to support long-term, sustainable development of the transport network. 
  • Strengthening collaboration and the visibility of Swiss research in the field of transport management. 

Expressions of Interest & Project Proposal

Researchers from Swiss universities are invited to apply for project funding (for further information please check the rules below). 
The research committee of the SBB Research Fund continually updates a list of research topics. Focus is on current and future challenges in public transport/railways. The research topics and questions serve as an inspiration.

Researchers can hand in either an expression of interest or a project proposal. An expression of interest is a brief description of an early project idea and should allow for an early feedback by the SBB Research Fund to the authors. A project proposal is a formal and elaborate application for a research project.
 

Research Topics Fall 2024

Expression of Interest

Project Proposal


Rules

Data Sets

Please send your expression of interest to daniel.bazzi@unisg.ch.

Deadline: October 11, 2024

Academic Members of the Research Advisory Board

  • Prof. Dr. Thomas Bieger, University of St.Gallen
  • Prof. Dr. Michel Bierlaire, EPFL Lausanne 
  • Prof. Dr. Katrin Fischer, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
  • Prof. Dr. Beat Hintermann, University of Basel
  • Prof. Dr. Christian Laesser, University of St.Gallen 
  • Prof. Dr. Felicitas Morhart, University of Lausanne
  • Dr. Stefano Scagnolari, Università della Svizzera italiana
  • Prof. Dr. Widar von Arx, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Current Projects:

"How to attract new customers for public transport: A qualitative market development study for prospective retirees considering their attitudes, drivers, and barriers"

Over the next decade, almost one million people will retire from the Swiss labor force. Retirees will stop commuting and increase leisure travel. Yet, studies show that public transport loses ground after retirement. This qualitative project, which was co-developed with SBB partners, aims to understand prospective retirees’ mobility needs and to develop strategies to attract them to use public transport.

Project Manager: Prof. Hauser

 

"Affective, Symbolic, and Instrumental Motives Underlying Teenagers’ Mobility Behavior"

Our travel mode preferences are developed during childhood and the teenage year leading up to the decision to acquire a driver’s licence or not. As such, understanding and leveraging the Swiss context-specific factors for teenagers’ mobility behavior is critical for SBB to tap large long-term customer potentials.

Project Manager: Prof. Neumann

 

"Learning real-life constraints and objectives to determine timetables optimised for robustness interactively"

Timetables are vulnerable to common small disturbances, revealing a gap between nominal and actual performance. Timetables are often designed based on nominal performance. We target decision support to find the best timetable in actual performance, enabling creation of robust timetables with limited extra workload.

Project Manager: Prof. Corman

Finished Projects:

"Describing and predict activity behaviour and pedestrian volume in and around railway stations."

Railway stations are not only important mobility hubs but also have become destinations for various activities and have become part of the urban fabric. Despite the availability of various data sources our understanding of the various interactions between the spatial configuration of the pedestrian network including platforms and the location and type of commercial surfaces is limited.

Project Manager: Prof. Erath

 

"Does a free arrival-departure offer for overnight guests lead to a mode shift towards public transport?"

A shift from private car trips towards public transport helps to decrease CO2 emissions. New offers can foster this shift if they attract new customer segments. The project analyses the causal effect of the new free arrival-departure offer for overnight guests in Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI) on the mode shift.

Project Manager: Prof. von Arx

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"SUCAP - Success factors for training in virtual space: from simulation to practice"

Since virtual trainings have to be developed for the basic education of apprentices as well as for the further education of more than 20 occupational groups at SBB, the question arises which success factors of media presentation (training with/without avatar; degree of immersion, etc.) are decisive and needed for the learning success and the learning transfer into the real working world.

Project Manager: Dr. Christ

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Understanding the perception of fear of crime and harassment on Swiss public trains"

Perceived risks and fear of crime on public transport impact the travel experiences and choices of customers. This project aims to collect rich data about fears and experiences of crime of diverse groups. It will further evaluate existing interventions regarding train travel and explore reporting behaviour with regards to assault, aggression and harassment.

Project Manager: Dr. Boulila

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Optimization of train crew assignment to activity segments"

Optimizing the train crew assignment to activity segments is an important part in the overall railway planification, as subsequent strategic decisions not only impact the daily schedules of crew members, but also for instance costs as well as the number, location and skills of newly formed collaborators. We would like to test different approaches to tackle this problem.

Project Manager: Dr. Schindl

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"A benchmarking concept for flagging bid-rigging cartels in procurements of railway infrastructure"

To enhance the fight against bid rigging, we aim at developing and applying a benchmarking concept. This concept shows how to ex ante (without information of any bid-rigging cartel) screen tendering of railway infrastructure for suspicious behavior indicating bid rigging.

Project Manager: Wallimann, MSc

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"How to relate the productivity of train drivers with their job satisfaction and the quality of train services?"

The complex, internal relationship between rail schedules and staff rotation is here addressed for a complete analysis of the current performance of train drivers. The potential for performance improvement in relation to the constraints imposed by the timetable and the corresponding shift plans (e.g. use of buffer times) on the one hand, and job satisfaction on the other, can be therefore identified.

Project Manager: Dr. De Martinis/Prof. Wüst

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Hologram-based nudging to optimize customer flows at train stations"

Holograms offer a new customer touch point that could help guide customer behavior when employed effectively. However, not only the effects of holograms on customer flows are unknown, but also how they need to be designed to achieve the desired effects, while avoiding customer frustration. We therefore ask: How can holograms be efficiently used to nudge and optimize customer flows at train stations?

Project Manager: Prof. Christian Matt

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"The effect of an area-wide price reduction in public transport: lessons from Geneva"

Car usage leads to greater levels of negative externalities than public transport. Therefore, a transport mode shift towards public transport could help to reduce negative externalities caused by the transport sector. Price reductions to achieve this mode shift have been intensively discussed in recent years.

Project Manager: Prof. v. Arx

Zum Schlussbericht 

 

"Mode choice and its change during COVID19 restrictions"

The current disruption of the travel patterns might have longer term repercussions. Equally the public transport operators, SBB especially, have to prepare for the next wave of the virus, as it is clear that neither herd immunity will be obtained nor an effective vaccine will be identified by winter 2020/21. The trade-offs in service planning would benefit from more insights into the changed/unchanged preference structures of the population.

Project Manager: Prof. Kay Axhausen

 

"Activity-based travel demand forecasting"

The Swiss Federal Railways maintain an activity-based demand model and that way contributes to SBB’s long-term prediction of demand for future rail service and future intermodal services. Hence, the improvement of this model is of strategic importance. An improved activity-based demand model that enables SBB to better predict the long-term changes in travel demand due to demographic shifts, new technologies, and new intermodal transport services.

Project Manager: Prof. Michel Bierlaire

 

"Innovative measures to maximize capacity utilization of the transport network considering the acctual demand on the trains"

With the Swiss railway infrastructures reaching its capacity limits, innovative tools and measures must be developed and tested to expand the railway infrastructure capacity, keep the system robust, but also explicitly care about future passenger demand, and quality of travel minimizing passenger delays.

Project Manager: Prof. Corman

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Future traffic control beyond modes"

Efficient use of available inter-modal infrastructure and utilization of spare capacity can improve mobility in future cities. With our experience in railway and road traffic control, we aim at studying multi-modal hierarchical traffic control mechanisms that could manage mobility in an integrated way. Currently we are limited to lack of communication and/or collaboration between inter-modal infrastructures. Each operator makes decisions independently, and thus, may negatively affect users’ mobility. Railway and road traffic optimize their performance separately, but an integrated framework could be beneficial.

Project Manager: Prof. Francesco Corman

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Cost cap tariff: Definition of optimal price level and product features to maximize demand"

Cost cap tariffs could eliminate unpleasant effects (e.g. taximeter effect) and in turn increase travel frequency. Single fare tickets are subject to the taximeter effect, which potentially results in transparent and unpleasant cost accumulation. The expected outcome of this project is a definition of optimal price level with regard to cost cap; setting of product features to maximize demand (i.e. cost cap tariffs should not only increase travel frequency with existing customers but also attract new customers).

Project Manager: Dr. Christian Weibel

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Do supersaver tickets balance out transport utilization?"

The high commuter demand during peak hours is a key challenge for public transport. Supersaver tickets enjoy increasing popularity among customers. Using causal machine learning approaches, we estimate the effect of the supersaver tickets on demand shift from peak to underutilized off-peak hours. There exist huge demand differences between peak and off-peak hours of public transport. The underutilized capacity of the off-peak hours is therefore a great potential to unburden peak hours using supersaver tickets.

Project Manager: Prof. Huber

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Examination of the subsitutionality of train and bus trips in long distance travel"

The main focus of this study is examining the substitution behaviour between train and bus of public transportation (PT) customers in long distance travel. The study has two parts. Part one focusses on capturing consumers’ behaviour. The second part focusses on consumers’ preferences, the willingness to pay for different means of transport given some comfort features and forecasting their market share. In part one, the consumers’ behaviour is captured by a Online-access-panel based survey, it focuses on current long distances journeys inside Switzerland, attitudes and socio-demographics of the respondent. Based on two of those journeys, ideally a leisure and a business one, we will construct two stated choice experiments to explore the trade-offs which the respondents make between the long-distance modes, car, train, coach (long distance bus) by varying the number of changes, the access/egress and travel time, comfort features and the price of the modal alternatives.

Project Manager: Prof. Kay Axhausen

Zum Schlussbericht

 

"Business model portfolio – future configurations for integrated (rail) mobility services"

While existing studies envision the future of mobility and foreshadow change, they omit to discuss implications for specific business models and their value creation logics. Yet, identifying development trajectories for existing and new business models is key to determine how railway companies like SBB will provide sustainable value in tomorrow’s mobility landscape – specifically, as consumer preferences and technologies change. New technologies enable virtual integration along service, travel, and logistics chains, new transportation production concepts, and added functionality. This opens trajectories for new business models and the augmentation of existing models of passenger and freight transportation. To what extent can railway companies like SBB augment their business models to generate substantial revenues at low marginal cost and control strategic resources/positions?

Project Manager: Prof. Christian Laesser

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Cost Reduction Using Passenger Centric Timetabling»

To design their timetables, train-operating companies mostly focus on operational aspects and cost. In Switzerland, a paradigm of transportation planning is to create regular-interval timetables (a.k.a. cyclic timetables) which aim for maximal transfer connections, simplicity and hence user friendlyness. SBB uses travel simulation models to predict the impact of timetable changes on travel demand and revenue. Mathematical timetable optimization methods are not yet used by SBB. But a recent EPFL thesis (2016) shows that the timetable itself has a significant impact on the performance of the operator in terms of the number of transported passengers: a timetable design that considers the behavior of passengers leads to higher revenue(s), market share(s), higher value of passenger-km etc. In this project, the aim is to use the optimization methods developed by the TRANSP-OR Lab consisting in combining cyclic and non-cyclic timetables and apply it to the Swiss Federal Railways’ timetable design. The goal is to evaluate the performance of the current Swiss interval timetable and to compare it to the optimal one. Suitability of hybrid timetables for the Swiss railway network will be investigated. 

Project Manager: Prof. Michel Bierlaire

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Network Design for SBB Cargo»

This project aims at developing an algorithm for the overall design of SBB cargo’s network of bundling points. SBB Cargo operates a network of 2 marshaling yards, 65 shunting yards and about 350 of small bundling points. The operation as such is costly and the network might contain redundant bundling points. The overall interest of SBB Cargo is to minimize the operating cost of their network and to compare its performance to a better network, completely designed from scratch. The resulting framework is then planned to be used to improve the current network of SBB cargo and its future development. The main research challenge of this project is to incorporate the SBB Cargo needs into one model while taking into account the specifics of the railway network and its operation. The researchers from the Transport and Mobility Laboratory (TRANSP-OR) will develop a heuristic algorithm that gives as an output a complete network design based on the inputs (cargo demand, capacity, types and costs of different bundling points). The algorithm can be further adjusted by entering the already existing bundling points. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm will be tested thorough comparison with existing solutions.

Project Manager: Prof. Michel Bierlaire

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Development of a prototype for the automated generation of timetable scenarios»

In the near future, the SBB infrastructure division has to expand rail infrastructure at crucial operating points like for instance Zürich Stadelhofen. In this context, automated timetable creation is a very important business requirement as  intermediate timetable scenarios have to be developed for construction or maintenance time periods. In these cases, certain infrastructure components are temporarily unavailable during several hours or even for several days. These restrictions in the service intention have to be considered during the design phase of the integrated clock face timetable. Service restrictions should be as small as possible, but the resulting timetable must still guarantee sufficient operational stability. This means that it should be possible to quickly find and evaluate temporary timetable alternatives with minimal impact on service quality in a fast and easy way. In this project, a prototype for the automated generation of timetable scenarios specified by the transport service intention is developed and tested in practice.

Project Manager: Dr. Raimond Wüst

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Mobilitätsbedürfnisse und -verhalten von zukünftigen älteren Personen im öffentlichen Verkehr: Herausforderungen, Chancen und Potenziale.»

Die Mobilitätsbedürfnisse älterer Menschen sind anders als diejenigen jüngerer Personen und werden angesichts der demographischen Alterung der Schweizer Bevölkerung die zukünftigen Anforderungen an das Verkehrssystem mitprägen. Mit Blick auf die bestehenden Trends (z.B. selbstfahrende Fahrzeuge, Access over Ownership) stellt sich die Frage, wie gross die Akzeptanz dieser Trends in rund 30 Jahren bei zukünftigen älteren Personen sein wird und welche Bedürfnisse diese Personen haben werden. Dieses Projekt fokussiert dabei auf die mit dem demographischen Wandel verbundenen Chancen für den öffentlichen Verkehr.

Projektleitung: Dr. Jürg Artho

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Zukünftige mobilitätsbezogene Kundenbedürfnisse der Arbeitenden Bevölkerung»

Mithilfe von Flash Fiction Geschichten wurde das implizite Zukunftswissen von Personen abgeholt, welche den in Vorgängerstudien ermittelten zukünftigen Kundengruppen entsprechen. Die 221 von diesen Personen in Workshops geschriebenen Kurzgeschichten wurden inhaltsanalytisch ausgewertet und resultierten in vier vorstellbaren Mobilitätsszenarien für das Jahr 2057.

Projektleitung: Prof. Patricia Wolf

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Selbstfahrende Fahrzeuge im öffentlichen Verkehr: Neue Geschäftsmodelle für die SBB im ländlichen Raum?»

Schienengeführte Fahrzeuge werden an Flughäfen, auf Messegeländen und in Metrosystemen seit Jahrzehnten ohne Fahrpersonal betrieben; auf der Strasse hingegen sind heute die ersten Pilotversuche im Gang. Doch auch hier könnten tiefere Betriebskosten und eine bessere Sicherheit für die Fahrgäste bald zu einer höheren Verbreitung von selbstfahrenden Fahrzeugen führen. Insbesondere bei einer tiefen Auslastung könnten damit die Abgeltungen eventuell deutlich reduziert werden, was solche Systeme besonders für den ländlichen Raum interessant macht. Im vorliegenden Projekt wird untersucht, welches Sparpotenzial bei verschiedenen Automatisierungsgraden besteht, und welche Geschäftsmodelle für die SBB in diesem Zusammenhang interessant sein könnten. Dazu werden im Oberen Tösstal basierend auf verschiedenen Automatisierungsgraden neue Angebotskonzepte entwickelt und auf ihr Effizienzsteigerungspotenzial hin untersucht. Die erwarteten neuen Angebote werden es ausserdem möglich machen, geplante Infrastrukturausbauten im ländlichen Raum kritisch zu hinterfragen und eventuelle Fehlinvestitionen in Zukunft zu vermeiden. 

Projektleitung: Dr. Roger Sonderegger

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Consequences of Automated Shared Transport Systems on Land Use Changes at Railway Stations and Residential Areas of Agglomerations» 

The constructive or destructive impacts of autonomous vehicles on the land use and human settlements are yet unclear. In order to plan preventive measures against destructive impacts and reinforce solutions to embrace the positive effects of autonomous vehicles on the mobility of residents and the liveability of human settlements, one needs to first identify the plausible operational scenarios of such vehicles. These scenarios may include those related to privately-owned autonomous cars, Free Floating Carsharing (FFC) and ridesharing with autonomous vehicles, as well as autonomous busses and autonomous feeder shuttles. Only then, their consequences on land use patterns around railway stations and the land use pattern changes within agglomerations can be determined.

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Weidmann

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Using Automation in Railway Operation for a Better Shaping of Train Runs in Terms of Power and Energy» 

Automation of operation and integration of supplementary systems 
offer great potentials to improve train runs in the network context in 
order to decrease energy and better shape power demand. These potentials 
shall be investigated in this research work. 

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Weidmann

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Zukunft Mobilität: Szenarien für das System Mobilität und Bedürfnisse der Mobilitätskunden im Jahr 2040 in der Schweiz»

Durch sich verändernde Lebens- und Arbeitsumstände unterstützt durch neue technologische Entwicklungen verändern sich die Bedürfnisse und das Reiseverhalten der Bahnkunden. Sie werden zu Mobilitätskunden, welche intermodal von Tür-zu-Tür reisen. Die Dienstleistungsorientierung dieser neuen Segmente dürfte viel bedeutender werden. Einerseits verändern sich die Bedürfnisse einzelner Segmente und andererseits entstehen neue Segmente mit neuem täglichem Reise-/Pendlerverhalten. Anhand zukünftiger Bedürfnisse, Nutzentreiber und Segmente sollen Zukunftsszenarien erstellt und überprüft werden. Die Resultate sollen für die zukünftige Strategiezielformulierung genutzt werden können. 

Projektleitung: Dr. Andreas Wittmer

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Innovationspotentiale in der Preis- und Produktlinienpolitik der SBB vor dem Hintergrund zunehmender Kundenheterogenität: Empirische Analyse und Simulation des Entscheidungsverhaltens» 

Die SBB sind mit einem zunehmenden Kostendruck und einer zunehmenden Heterogenität der Kundengruppen konfrontiert. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht dieses Projekt Innovationspotentiale in der aktuellen Produktlinie der SBB auf preis- und produktpolitischer Ebene. Methodisch werden Kundenpräferenzen empirisch erfasst und auf der Basis hybrider Choice Modelle analysiert. Hybride Modell erlauben das Entscheidungsverhalten der Kunden anhand von verhaltenswissenschaftlichen, sog. latenten Variablen, zusätzlich zu rein angebotsbezogenen Eigenschaften zu erklären. Ziel ist die Ermittlung einer oder mehrerer Varianten einer auf die heterogenen Segmente abgestimmten Produktlinie unter Betrachtung möglicher neuer Produktdimensionen. Ein wissenschaftlicher Forschungsbeitrag entsteht durch die Untersuchung neuer Anwendungsmöglichkeiten der kombinierten Nutzung anreizkompatibler und klassischer hypothetischer Erhebungsmethoden sowie durch die Nutzung psychometrischer Variablen im Rahmen von hybriden Choice Modellen. 

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Reto Hofstetter

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Arealentwicklung und Bahnzugang»

Grosse Arealentwicklungen im unmittelbaren Umfeld von Bahnhöfen haben zuletzt den Ausbaubedarf von Bahnzugängen zum Teil massiv erhöht. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht das Projekt, wie das Thema „Bahnzugang“ bei den entsprechenden räumlichen Planungs- und Entwicklungsprozessen positioniert und integriert werden kann. Andererseits stellt sich auch die Frage, wie und in welchem Umfang die potenziellen Nutzniesser der Bahninfrastruktur sich an der Finanzierung der notwendigen Ausbauprojekte beteiligen lassen.

Projektleitung: Dr. Roland Scherer

Zum Schlussbericht


«Railway Stations and Spatial Development in Small and Medium-Sized Cities in Switzerland: Challenges and Chances for SBB»

This research addresses the potential opportunities for integrated long-term development
around railway stations in small and medium-sized cities in the Swiss Central Plateau.
Here, potential for urban and commercial re-development is still highly significant, while knowledge, experience and instruments for inner-development (‘Innenentwicklung’) are rather limited so far and SBB has the possibility to take the lead for starting re-development processes.

Project Manager: Prof. Dr Scholl

Zum Schlussbericht


«Integration des Gesamtsystems öffentlicher Verkehr im neuen regulatorischen Kontext»

Der öffentliche Verkehr ist ein komplexes sozio-technisches System. Die Integration aller Akteure und Teilleistungen sowie die Beherrschung der Schnittstellen sind erfolgsentscheidend für dessen Performance. Regulatorische Veränderungen haben neue Schnittstellen geschaffen, gewachsene Kompetenzaufteilungen in Frage gestellt und Integrationsprozesse aufgebrochen. Das Projekt will neue Wege aufzeigen, wie die Integration des öffentlichen Verkehrs auch künftig gesichert werden kann.

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Weidmann, Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias P. Finger



«Erarbeitung eines Index zur Messung der Kundenorientierung in der Logistikbranche»

Kundenorientierung und insbesondere die daraus resultierende Kundenzufriedenheit gelten als wichtige Performance-Massstäbe für den Logistikmarkt und den Logistikstandort Schweiz. Eine stärkere Kundenorientierung kann dabei helfen, den Preiswettbewerb abzumildern und damit zu einer verbesserten Marktposition im Wettbewerb führen. Der Schwerpunkt der Studie liegt auf der Frage, wie Logistikdienstleister generell und Eisenbahn-güterverkehrsunternehmen speziell ihre Kundenorientierung verbessern können.

Projektleitung: Dr. Thorsten Klaas-Wissing 

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Gesamtwirtschaftliche Effekte des OeV mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Verdichtungs- und Agglomerationseffekte»

Das Projekt legt den Fokus auf die Wachstums- resp. Produktivitätseffekte der OeV-Erreichbarkeit in der Schweiz. Entsprechende Erkenntnisse sind für die Begründung und Prioritätensetzung von Ausbauten im OeV-Verkehrsangebot zentral und damit auch politisch von grosser Bedeutung 

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Kay Axhausen

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Transaktionskosten in den Anbieter-Besteller-Beziehungen im regionalen Personenverkehr»

Das Projekt beleuchtet die Gestaltung der Anbieter-Besteller-Beziehungen im Regionalen Schienenpersonenverkehr (Schienen-RPV) hinsichtlich der anfallenden Transaktionskosten. Ziel ist es, einen Beitrag zur Suche nach optimalen Steuerungsinstrumenten im Schienen-RPV insbesondere für die Schweiz mit ihrem dichten, qualitativ hochstehenden aber komplexen und vergleichsweise kostspieligen Angebot zu leisten. Der Fokus liegt im Vergleich von wettbewerblichen Ausschreibungen und Direktvergaben. Es werden Fallbeispiele aus Deutschland und der Schweiz untersucht. 

Projektleitung: Dr. Widar von Arx

 Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Innovation Bahnsystem»

Die Kosten systemorientierter Innovationen und deren Nutzen fallen oft nicht in derselben Sparte an. Ein direkter Nutzentransfer ist nicht möglich und der Anreiz des Trassenpreissystems bleibt schwach. Gleichzeitig erschweren der Wettbewerb zwischen den EVU sowie die europäische Harmonisierung eine koordinierte Einführung von Innovationen, da der First Mover alle Risiken trägt – der Nutzen aber auch bei konkurrierenden EVU anfallen kann oder die Systeme nur bei europaweiter Einführung einen Nutzen stiften. Das Projektziel ist der Entwurf von Entscheidungsprozessen, institutionellen Zusammenarbeitsformen und finanziellen Mechanismen, welche eine faire Verteilung der Risiken und Chancen schaffen und damit die Umsetzung solcher Innovationen aktiv vorantreiben können. 

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Weidmann

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Kundenwerttreiber, Kundenverhalten und Zahlungsbereitschaft von Bahnkunden beim Kauf eines GAs»

Das Ziel des vorliegenden Projekts ist die Ermittlung der zentralen Kundenwerttreiber und deren Einfluss auf die Zahlungsbereitschaft beim GA Kauf. Darüber hinaus verfolgt es den Zweck zentrale Konsumententypologien beim GA Kauf zu beschreiben. Das Projekt baut auf dem Kundenwert (Nutzen und Treiber der Zahlungsbereitschaft) und dem Kundenverhalten (Prozess und Treiber der Zahlungsbereitschaft) auf. 

Projektleitung: Dr. Andreas Wittmer 

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Incentive-based Governance of the Swiss Railway Sector»

The purpose of this report is to contribute to the present debate on organising and financing the Swiss railway system. In particular, it offers a more conceptual analysis of the relationship between the way the different parts of the Swiss railway system are financed on the one hand, and the overall performance of the sector on the other. The research question is as follows: how should the Swiss railway sector be financed in order to achieve the highest possible level of performance? On the whole, it was found that in important respects the relationship between the design of the financing mechanisms used to fund the Swiss railway sector and the performance of that sector creates incentives that are weaker than what would be optimal.

Project Manager: Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias Finger

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Optimale Netznutzung und Wirksamkeit der Instrumente zu deren Lenkung» 

Für die nächsten zwanzig Jahre erwartet die SBB ein starkes Nachfragewachstum, welchem nur sehr beschränkte Investitionsmittel gegenüberstehen. Es soll daher untersucht werden, mittels welcher ökonomischen und regulatorischen Lenkungsinstrumente die vorhandenen Kapazitäten maximal und das Netz optimal genutzt werden könnten. Folgerungen bezüglich Kapazitätszuteilung und Investitionsallokation sollen abgeleitet werden. 

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Weidmann 

Zum Schlussbericht

 

«Governance of Competition in the Swiss Railway Sector» 

This research project aims at identifying and analyzing the possible institutional answers to the European Commission’s pressure to implement further competition in the Swiss railway system. On the basis of the already existing European practices, as well as in light of the Swiss specificities, the research project will propose possible institutional arrangements capable of responding to the different types of challenges. 

Project Manager: Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias Finger.

 

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