The “Friedrich List” Faculty of Transport Sciences warmly congratulates Kristof Halasz on winning first prize from the “Mayor Dr h.c. Max Brauer Foundation for the Promotion of Talented Students”, sponsored by Hamburger Hochbahn. The prize is awarded every two years for final-year student theses that make a valuable contribution to the further development of local public transport and demonstrate innovative approaches.

In 2024, Kristof Halasz wrote and successfully defended his Master’s thesis at the Chair of Economics, esp. Transport Policy and Spatial Economics, on the topic ‘The rail bonus in public transport – an empirical analysis of the preference for track-based modes of transport’. In it, he examined the extent to which track-based modes of transport are preferred, even when all other parameters, such as journey time and cost, are identical.

The findings of this study not only confirm the conclusions of the existing literature, but also expand upon them with new scientific insights, thereby helping to forecast passenger numbers more accurately in the event of a system change or the construction of new transport systems, and thus to arrive at a more realistic cost-benefit ratio. In this context, Kristof Halasz also outlines in his thesis possible solutions for how the rail bonus can be given greater consideration in the Standardised Assessment in future.

This work is therefore not only an academic achievement, but also makes an important practical contribution to the further development of public transport. The award of the Max Brauer Foundation’s First Prize recognises this outstanding achievement.

We warmly congratulate Kristof Halasz and wish him continued success in the future.