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Dr. Eran Ben-Elia, the Professor of Parking

Dr. Eran Ben-Elia, the Professor of Parking

June 12, 2018

Robotics & High-Tech, Social Sciences & Humanities

By Benyamin Cohen, a fellow of Americans for Ben-Gurion University’s 2018 Murray Fromson Journalism Fellowship

From the Grapevine — Dr. Eran Ben-Elia is the head of the lab and senior lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. But he’s atypical: You’d think that he studies maps, could be quizzed on the capitals of obscure countries and would be a shoo-in for “Jeopardy!” But the geography that Dr. Ben-Elia studies is a little more grounded – literally. He has devoted the bulk of his research to the “most niche” of topics – traffic and parking issues.

Dr. Eran Ben-Elia

In this podcast, Dr. Ben-Elia is interviewed by behavioral economist and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, a fellow Israeli. Dr. Ben-Elia discusses his research, which focuses on figuring out why people make certain decisions when they are in a car.

When you approach your destination, do you cruise around the area looking for on-street parking, or do you skip that phase and head straight to a parking garage – even though it might be a little further away? Are you a risk-taker or do you prefer a sure thing? At his high-tech lab at BGU, Dr. Ben-Elia is now working on a new project that could impact all commuters – he may have discovered how to carve out the perfect route to work.

Listen to the podcast or read the transcript on From the Grapevine >>