International
anthony ohazulike
On his way with no regrets His father taught him perseverance. That trait took anthony ohazulike from a small nigerian town to a PhD position in Twente, winning many awards and honours on the way. Who is he? and what does he know about road pricing?
PhDs are the backbone of our university. But who are they? Every month, we introduce another PhD candidate to you. This month: Anthony Ohazulike, PhD Candidate at Discrete Mathematics and Mathematical Programming and the Centre for Transport Studies. The PhD is sponsored
TexT: MaRiska RoeRsen | PHoTo: Gijs van oUWeRkeRk >
parents. Since Anthony was lucky to still have
by CTIT.
both his mother and father alive, he did not stand ‘Always do your best so you cannot say that you
a chance. Until a letter came in: ‘There were 8
could have done better’. His father’s advice still
scholarships available, but they decided to grant
the Netherlands. Plans to link taxes to driven ki-
echoes in Anthony Ohazulike’s head. ‘I try to
a 9th scholarship to me. Based on merit.’ Anthony
lometres failed miserably because of lack of sup-
exhaust all possibilities, so I don’t have to regret
could not believe his luck. And once again, wor-
port. Anthony felt triggered by the situation and
anything.’ Anthony has come a long way with
ked hard.
decided to start a PhD research on road pricing.
this strategy. He passed a very competitive exam,
After graduating with honours in Computer
‘You can use money to achieve a given objective.
which allowed him into one of only three special
Science and Mathematics, he started working in
Fees can change people’s behaviour. But it just
science schools for boys in Anambra State in
commercial bank. Two years later, he received a
doesn’t work when stakeholders have conflicting
Nigeria. ‘Everything changed after that’, Anthony
scholarship to do a Master’s program in Applied
aims. In a new model, we need to come up with a
smiles. ‘Competition was so fierce that I pushed
Mathematics at Twente University. So he packed
toll that benefits all. Even the road users them-
myself continuously. Third-year pupils from these
his bags.
selves.’
secondary schools know more than university
Game theory seemed to be the solution: one
students.’
Money changes behaviour
Yet, the story had only just begun. To enter uni-
During the Master’s program, Anthony worked for
objectives, the second adapts it to meet his own
versity, Anthony needed a scholarship. But these
mobility consultant Goudappel Coffeng. At this
standards, the third does the same, and so on.
were only given to villagers who lost one or both
time there was much ado about road pricing in
This process is repeated until improvements are
stakeholder drafts a system to achieve his own
no longer possible. It is a lengthy process, so Anthony developed a computer simulation model to replace it.
low toll But what benefits can we think about, except that the government will earn more money from the poor road users? ‘That is a misconception. Prerequisite for a good tolling is that all money is put back into the system. Possible goals could be to reduce emission, noise or traffic jams by stimulating people to take other routes or to choose other departure times.’ Anthony emphasizes a funny characteristic of road pricing: ‘Toll does not have to be high to achieve a certain effect. If you have to pay 10 euros for one route and 5 euros for the other, you choose the latter. Interestingly, if the numbers were 1 euro versus 0,50 euro, you would still choose the latter. This means that toll can be rather low to achieve the same effect.’ Anthony has achieved a lot but refuses to be called gifted. ‘Nobody is gifted in life. It all depends how you develop yourself. Anybody can do the same within the same conditions, as long as you are stubborn enough to continue.’ |
32 UT NIEUWS 05|2013