Professor Thijs Dekker

Profile

Employment history

• 2024 -         Professor of Transport Economics, University of Leeds 
• 2020-2024 - Associate Professor, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds.
• 2014-2020 - Lecturer in Transport Economics, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds.
• 2013-2014 - Postdoctoral researcher, Delft University of Technology.
• 2012-2013 - Research Fellow, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds.

Responsibilities

• Director of Postgraduate Research Studies
• Programme Leader MSc Transport Economics

Research interests

My expertise is in the analysis of empirical data, either directly coming from observed (travel) behaviour or from surveys, evaluating and predicting behavioural responses to changes in transport infrastructure, and to put monetary values on the societal benefits generated by such projects.  

In terms of academic impact, my research is on the forefront of the cost-benefit analysis and non-market valuation literature. My contributions include introducing fit-for-purpose statistical model structures capturing preference heterogeneity in (travel) behaviour, willingness-to-pay, and related economic welfare measures; establishing the statistical properties of choice models; and advocating the use of alternative estimation methods (e.g. Bayesian econometrics). I contribute to the popular R-based estimation software package Apollo for choice modelling, and I am widely considered as an expert regarding the connection between discrete choice models and microeconomic theory. Furthermore, I have co-developed the Participatory Value Evaluation (PVE) survey method and its related theoretical and analytical framework. PVE addresses shortcomings of the traditional non-market valuation and appraisal framework and is quickly gaining traction in the Dutch policy appraisal context as a complement to CBA. I have been an elected Regular Board member for the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR) between 2019-2023 and sit on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Choice Modelling, and Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies.

In terms of societal impact, I have made significant contributions around ‘Values of Travel Time’ (VTT) and closely related concepts of crowding, congestion, and reliability. In the 2014/15 UK national VTT study, commissioned by the UK Department for Transport, I was one of the main analysts estimating the VTT and value of travel time reliability (VTTR), and developed the ‘Implementation Tool’ enabling the derivation of national average VTT and VTTR metrics for implementation in TAG. Following the 14/15 study, I have been the project manager on the ITS Leeds teams undertaking the 2018 study developing a ‘Programme for maintaining a robust VTTS’, the 2020 study updating the national value of time in Ireland making use of the UK evidence base, and the 2024 scoping study setting out the research agenda and recommendations for a potential future UK national study. I have been the lead analyst in subsequent projects for the UK Department for Transport on freight values of time (2019), congested values of time (2021), and the application of distributional weights to the VTT (2023). I have advised the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regarding the transferability of the national VTT for transport journeys to the context of financial products and services (2023). Outside of the UK VTT context, I have analysed the freight VTT in South Asia for the Worldbank (2023) and acted as an independent external reviewer to VTT studies in Australia and New Zealand.

• Distributional impact appraisal audit
• National Railway Accessibility Strategy - Economics Benefits Framework
• PRETTI
• Securing biodiversity, functional integrity and ecosystem services in DRYing riVER networks
• Valuation and Appraisal of Accessibility in Rail (VAAR): an appraisal framework for improvements in accessibility for all

Qualifications

• PhD in Economics, VU University Amsterdam, 2012
• MsC in Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2006 (with highest honour)
• BsC in Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2005

Research groups and institutes

• Choice Modelling

Current postgraduate researchers

• Phil Churchman
• Abdul Muti Sazali
• Robby Yudo Purnomo