Master's thesis: The Art of Congestion Control in Public Transportation

This Master’s thesis delves into the escalating challenge of peak-hour congestion in Dutch public transportation. It explores innovative strategies to enhance system efficiency and passenger comfort, focusing on dynamic pricing, such as peak-hour surcharges, and scheduling adjustments. By examining both conceptual frameworks and technical implications, this study provides a comprehensive approach to managing congestion, encouraging off-peak travel, and potentially transforming the future of public transport efficiency.

Required interest(s)

• Public Transport
• Pricing strategies
• Optimisation

What do you get

• A challenging assignment within a practical environment
• € 1000 compensation, € 500 + lease car or € 600 + living space
• Professional guidance
• Courses aimed at your graduation period
• Support from our academic Research center at your disposal
• Two vacation days per month

What you will do

• 65% Research
• 10% Analyze, design, realize
• 25% Documentation

If you’re a frequent traveler during peak hours, you’ve likely observed that trains, buses, or metros become increasingly crowded. The mounting congestion within the Dutch public transportation system has evolved into a significant challenge, affecting both the system’s efficiency and passengers’ comfort. To ensure continued smooth travel in the future, we must adopt a smarter approach to managing the available space on trains and buses. A strategy to achieve this entails more evenly distributing congestion throughout the day. This involves encouraging individuals to consider traveling during less busy periods, perhaps half an hour earlier or later.

To accomplish this goal, transportation companies can offer more attractive deals for those who opt for off-peak hours. One such initiative is the ‘peak-hour surcharge’ introduced by the NS (Dutch Railways). This system increases prices during peak hours, incentivizing travelers to journey outside these high-demand times by offering reduced fares. This mechanism of price adjustment is an intriguing approach that not only aids in congestion alleviation but can also make travel more economical and user-friendly.

In this assignment, you will explore strategies to tackle the problem of peak-hour congestion in public transportation. You’ll consider the key components of an effective congestion-alleviation model, such as dynamic pricing and scheduling adjustments. Additionally, the assignment prompts you to delve into the technical implications of these strategies, including data requirements and infrastructure considerations. By investigating both the conceptual and technical aspects, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of how to enhance the efficiency and comfort of public transportation during peak hours.

About Info Support Research Center

We anticipate on upcoming and future challenges and ensures our engineers develop cutting-edge solutions based on the latest scientific insights. Our research community proactively tackles emerging technologies. We do this in cooperation with renowned scientists, making sure that research teams are positioned and embedded throughout our organisation and our community, so that their insights are directly applied to our business. We truly believe in sharing knowledge, so we want to do this without any restrictions.

Read more about Info Support Research here.

What does Info Support offer you during your graduation period?

Of course, we offer you an excellent package of graduation conditions with various options. These include:

• Laptop, all necessary tools, and development environments to successfully carry out your assignment
• A graduation allowance, where you have the choice of:
• € 1000 gross per month
• € 500 gross per month + lease car with fuel card
• € 600 gross per month + accommodation in Veenendaal

During your graduation internship, you will be included in one of our business units and in our Research Center. This will give you a good understanding of the developments within our projects and our research projects.

In addition, Info Support offers you:

• A challenging master’s thesis at a solid, growing, and financially healthy company
• Professional and experienced guidance, hybrid working
• A graduation program with, among other things, training sessions, knowledge evenings, project visits, activities, and team, unit, and company outings
• Experimentation with new products and releases that are in the pre-release phase
• Brainstorming with other graduates and IT colleagues who are collegial and passionate
• Potential for a permanent position in our IT Top Traineeship program!

About Info Support

Info Support specializes in custom software, data/AI solutions, management, and training and is active in the Finance, Industry, Agriculture, Food & Retail, Mobility & Public, and Healthcare sectors. We provide solid and innovative solutions for complex and critical software issues. Our headquarters are located in Veenendaal (NL) and Mechelen (BE). At present, approximately 500 employees are employed by Info Support.

Info Support’s working method is characterized by a number of core values: solidity, integrity, craftsmanship, and passion. These core values are intertwined in our work and the way we interact with each other. This year, we were also named a Top Employer in the Netherlands!

To ensure that all employees are always up to date with the latest developments, Info Support has an in-house knowledge center that eagerly satisfies the hunger for more or different knowledge and skills.

B2 language proficiency in Dutch is required.