Dostępność transportu publicznego w wybranych średniej wielkości miastach Pomorza Środkowego
Availability of public transport in selected medium-sized cities of Middle Pomerania

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article was to compare the availability of public transport in medium-sizedcities in Central Pomerania – Kołobrzeg, Szczecinek, Wałcz, and Białogard. With the focus on thespatial availability of public transport infrastructure and the routes served by urban transport, whichwere compared using the method of standardized value sums, allowing for the comparison of indica-tors with different value ranges. Attention was also given to the accessibility of reaching bus stops,which was examined using network analyses carried out in the GIS environment, especially in thecontext of population distribution and the frequency of urban bus services. Economic accessibilitywas also compared based on ticket pricing. The analyses utilized publicly available statistical datafrom the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office (GUS), spatial data obtained from the Top-ographic Objects Database (BDOT) and the Open Street Map database, as well as the bus timetablescurrent as of May 2024. The results allowed for a comparison of the availability of urban transportsystems and revealed disparities in various areas of functioning. The system existing in Kołobrzegachieved the highest scores in most aspects of the study and was the only one where no significantshortcomings were observed. In the other cities, the flaws mainly concerned: the small number ofroutes serving individual neighborhoods, which are peripheral relative to the city center (Szczecinek,Wałcz, Białogard); low values of geographical accessibility indicators, whose causes can be foundin the functional-spatial structure and area of the city (Szczecinek); and the small number of ticketdiscounts compared to the other analyzed centers (Białogard). The conducted studies can serve asa basis for further, more detailed analyses of the availability of urban transport systems or be used fortheir further expansion and the shaping of urban transport policy in accordance with the principles ofsustainable development and meeting the transport needs of residents.

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