RESEARCH PAPER
Method of Price Adjustment in Contracts for the Provision of Transport Services
More details
Hide details
1
Department of Road and Urban Transport, University of Žilina
2
Wydział Humanistyczny, Uniwersytet im. Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach, Polska
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2025-11-14
Final revision date: 2026-02-11
Acceptance date: 2026-02-19
Publication date: 2026-03-31
Corresponding author
Lilla Kiss
Department of Road and Urban Transport, University of Žilina
The Archives of Automotive Engineering – Archiwum Motoryzacji 2026;111(1):26-52
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Public passenger transport represents a fundamental element of regional mobility, ensuring accessibility and social inclusion across all areas. Its effective and transparent financing is a key condition for maintaining the long-term stability and sustainability of the transport system. Long-term public service obligation contracts are, however, significantly influenced by fluctuations in fuel prices and labour costs, which creates uncertainty for both transport operators and public authorities. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an objective and predictable mechanism for price adjustment. The aim of this study was to design and verify a methodology for adjusting prices in PSO contracts using reliable statistical indicators published by national statistical offices. The research process consisted of five stages: analysis of existing contracts, identification of key cost components, development of an adjustment model, testing on historical data from 2016 to 2024, and evaluation of the model’s accuracy. The results confirmed that the differences between calculated and actual unit costs were within ±0.01 to ±0.02 € per km, representing a deviation below 5%. Consequently, the proposed model can be considered a reliable and transparent tool for price adjustment in long-term public transport contracts.
REFERENCES (13)
1.
Alrajhi J, Abdelwali H, Swilem SH, Abdelati M. An Efficient Methodology to Calculate Unit Transportation Costs: Case Studies for Trucks and Busses. International Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering. 2024;13(3):56–65.
https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ijtt....
2.
Andrei AC. Public Ownership of Local Public Transport Vs. Private Competition. Popa I, Dobrin C, Ciocoiu CN. ed. Proceedings of the 10TH International Management Conference: Challenges of Modern Management (IMC 2016). 2016:81–88.
3.
Berg J, Ihlström J. The importance of public transport for mobility and everyday activities among rural residents. Social Sciences Online. 2019;8(2):58.
https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci....
4.
Brídziková M, Konečný V, Hammer J, Abramovic B. Demand specifics of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility for bus transport. Case of regional bus transport in Slovakia. The Archives of Automotive Engineering – Archiwum Motoryzacji. 2020:87(1):81–95.
https://doi.org/10.14669/AM.VO....
5.
Cyprich O, Konečný V, Kilianová K. Short-term passenger demand forecasting using univariate time series theory. Promet – Traffic and Transportation. 2013;25(6):533–541.
https://doi.org/10.7307/ptt.v2....
6.
Dydkowski G, Galecka W, Urbanek A. Contracts of Transport Services Provision as a Factor of Increasing the Effectiveness of the Urban Public Transport. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems. 2024;907:15–33.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-....
7.
European Union. Regulation (ES) No 1370/2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70. Official Journal of the European Union, L 315/1, 3.12.2007.
9.
Kilianová K. Pôsobenie činiteľov na vybrané nákladové položky prímestskej autobusovej dopravy a ich štatistická závislosť. Doprava a spoje – elektronický časopis Fakulty prevádzky a ekonomiky dopravy a spojov Žilinskej univerzity v Žiline. 2012:213–217. Available from:
https://tac.uniza.sk/pdfs/das/... (accessed on 2025 Feb 01).
10.
Regional and local transport authorities in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Public passenger transport service contracts. Public documents (2016–2024). Availabla from:
https://pagedrop.app/p/public-... (accessed on 2025 Jan 30).
11.
Rosell J. Urban bus contractual regimes in small- and medium-sized municipalities: Competitive tendering or negotiation?. Transport Policy. 2017;60:54–62.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tran....
12.
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Statistical data on average fuel prices, average monthly wages, and consumer price index. Publicly available statistical data (2016–2025). Available from:
https://pagedrop.app/p/1312-st... (accessed on 2025 Feb 04).
13.
Van de Velde D. A new regulation for the European public transport. Research in Transportation Economics-A Research Annual. 2008;22(1):78–84.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retr....