Anastasios Skoufas

Research

Have you ever experienced a crowded bus or train when going to work or meeting up with friends? If the answer is yes, have you wondered what planners and policy-makers can do better to manage crowding in public transportation systems?

In my current research, funded by Region Stockholm (CAPACITY project, 2023-2024) and the Swedish Transport Administration (Demand management for crowding reduction in urban transport by passenger groups, 2025-2027), I am trying to answer the latter very crucial question. The answer is not that simple since crowding is a multidimensional phenomenon affected by decisions on multiple levels (e.g., individual, societal, infrastructural, and administrational).

Automated data sources (smart card data) are the main tool I use to model and monitor crowding in the large public transportation system of Region Stockholm. Smart card data are electronic records generated when passengers access the public transportation system.

I see evidence-based policy initiatives as the added value of my work toward more efficient and sustainable transportation systems.

Interested to know more? Feel free to check out my latest publications!

1. Assessing contributions of passenger groups to public transportation crowding

2. Ex-Post Assessment of Public Transportation On-Board Crowding Induced by New Urban Developments

Pedagogical activities

I am a teaching assistant in the master's level course AH2173 Public Transport. Specifically, together with Wilco Burghout we are supervising students' group projects. In this project, students need to perform a quantitative and/or qualitative analysis in the field of public transport using automated data sources using APIs from TrafikLab (or the home for the Swedish public transport data).

Scientific background

I earned an MEng in Rural and Surveying Engineering (major in Transportation Engineering) at AUTh, Greece, (2019), and my MSc in Transport and Geoinformation Technology at KTH (2022). My master’s thesis at KTH was focused on the design of public transportation networks in collaboration with Trafikförvaltingen, Region Stockholm. After my graduation, I worked as a research engineer in public transport data analytics at KTH.

Extroverse

An important part of my work concerns the delivery of engaging presentations to both technical and non-technical audiences through conference participation [e.g., TRB (2024), TransitData (2024)], research visits [e.g., TU Dresden (2024)], and invited talks [e.g., UITP (2024), Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York (MTA) (2024), Nommon Solutions and Technologies (2024)]. Last, I am also a member of the following organizations:

• 2023 – now: Member of the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE)

• 2022 – now: Member of the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers (Sveriges Ingenjörer)

• 2019 – now: Member of the Technical Chamber of Greece