Moshe Ben-Akiva

Early life and education Ben-Akiva moved to the United States, obtaining an SM in 1971 and a PhD in transportation systems in 1973 from MIT.

Academic career Immediately after completing his doctorate, Ben-Akiva joined the MIT faculty as an assistant professor; he was promoted to full professor in 1981 and named Edmund K. Turner Professor in 1996.

Ben-Akiva has supervised more than fifty doctoral dissertations and teaches graduate subjects in discrete-choice analysis, demand modelling and dynamic traffic assignment.

Research contributions Working at the interface of engineering and economics, Ben-Akiva introduced random-utility models that underpin modern activity-based demand forecasting. His subsequent integration of choice models with dynamic traffic assignment led to the microsimulation tools MITSIM and DynaMIT, which combine real-time sensor data with behavioural models to forecast congestion and test control strategies. Since the 2010s his group has blended machine-learning techniques with discrete choice to improve forecasts for on-demand mobility and urban freight systems. Lifetime Achievement Award, International Association for Travel Behaviour Research (2006) Jules Dupuit Prize, World Conference on Transport Research Society (2007) IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society Outstanding Application Award for DynaMIT (2011) Honorary doctorates from Université Lumière Lyon 2 (1992), University of the Aegean (2000), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2008) and University of Antwerp (2010)

Selected publications Ben-Akiva, M. & Lerman, S. R. (1985). Discrete Choice Analysis: Theory and Application to Travel Demand. MIT Press. Ben-Akiva, M., Meersman, H. & Van de Voorde, E. (eds.) Freight Transport Modelling. Emerald, 2013. Ben-Akiva, M., McFadden, D. & Train, K. (2019). “Foundations of stated-preference elicitation.” Foundations and Trends in Econometrics, 10(1-2), 1–144.