The doctoral thesis Models of Discrete Choice of Transport with Random Coefficients, by Alfonso Orro Arcay, has won the 3rd abertis award. The research by this lecturer in the transport infrastructure and engineering area of the University of A Coruña represents a step forward in the development of mathematical models to predict individuals’ decisions in choosing between one means of transport and another.

In selecting this thesis, the jury took into account Alfonso Orro’s contributions at an international level, which will make significant improvements possible in forecasting road traffic and the demand for transport in general.

The award-winning work sets out from the logit-type model, developed in the 1970’s by the 2000 Nobel economics prize winner Daniel McFadden and improved on in recent years by the so-called “mixed logit” model. This statistical model determined the probability of a particular means of transport – whether private vehicles or some kind of public transport – being chosen on the basis of certain variables and the features of the different transport options, including cost, journey time, frequency and convenience. Alfonso Orro refines these models and develops a new one, the Box Cox Logit. The model developed by Alfonso Orro adds new statistical tests and minimises the possibilities of incorrect predictions which characterise current models.

Doctor Alfonso Orro received the award from the secretary for mobility of the Catalan autonomous government, Manel Nadal, at an event held at midday today at the Barcelona School of Civil Engineers, part of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). Manel Nadal stressed that the conclusions of this work will help to “improve the choice of one means of transport or another and help to build the right transport model.” The Catalan government’s secretary for mobility also stressed the importance of co-operation between the public and private sectors, particularly in the field of infrastructure management. This was also highlighted by the director of the abertis chair, Francesc Robusté, for whom the authorities and business play “a fundamental role in promoting RDI (research, development and innovation).”

The event was also attended by the vice-rector responsible for International Relations and Regional Promotion of the UPC, Marisol Marqués, and the director general of corporate management at abertis, Josep Martínez-Vila. 

Marisol Marqués thanked abertis for its co-operation with the UPC and expressed her satisfaction at the “increasingly fruitful” synergies between business and the academic world. Josep Martínez-Vila noted “the interest of the work presented and the excellent standard of its execution.” Mr. Martínez-Vila also emphasised how the abertis chair makes it possible to update knowledge in the field of infrastructure and to “make it available to the community.” With a view to future awards, he pointed out that the territorial scope of the award, which is currently restricted to students at Spanish universities, could be extended.

The abertis award falls under the aegis of the abertis chair in Transport Infrastructure Management and represents its leading initiative to encourage research in the field. The abertis chair, set up by abertis in co-operation with the UPC in 2003, was created in order to stimulate training and research in the field of transport and communications infrastructure management.

The abertis award is open to all students studying for postgraduate, masters and doctoral qualifications at Spanish universities who submit unpublished research work in the above-mentioned field. The prize consists of 4,000 euros plus publication of the winning work.

Two Special Mentions

The jury has also awarded two special mentions on this occasion, to the theses Automatic Incident Detection on High-Speed Roads: Implementation on Barcelona’s Ronda de Dalt, by Roger García Ribó, and Baggage Handling: Decentralisation, Self-Identification and Self-Sorting; Application to the “Old Part” of Barcelona Airport’s Terminal B, by Pere Llorens Ardèbol.

Roger Garcia has developed a system for detecting irregular incidents which affect traffic flow on high-speed roads. The system makes use of  traffic measurements supplied by detectors located on the road. The algorithm processes this data in order to display the existence or otherwise of incidents. This system has been validated using data from the Ronda de Dalt in Barcelona, where it provided better results than the California-8 algorithm, the most widely-used automatic incident detection system in the United States.

For his part, Pere Llorens proposes three new strategies for baggage handling and reducing the queues which form at peak times in the “old part” of Terminal B at Barcelona airport. Applied in combination, these new methods considerably enhance baggage handling throughput, so avoiding delayed flights and reducing the number of passengers who miss their flight because they have been unable to check in their luggage.

In total, five pieces of work in the field of transport services and infrastructure were submitted for the abertis award. The other two pieces focused on improvements in urban bus networks and on supply transport and earth movement in ports.

The jury for this year’s award was made up of Salvador Alemany as chairman of the jury, Josep Martínez-Vila, José Vicente Solano, Toni Brunet and Ricard Maxenchs as secretary of the jury, on behalf of abertis, and Andrés López Pita, Félix Edmundo Pérez and Francesc Robusté on behalf of the UPC.