Port cities are critical nodes in global trade but face unique transport challenges issuing from their dual role as urban centres and maritime hubs. These challenges include congestion, pollution, and governance complexities, which intensify as global trade grows. Traffic bottlenecks caused by overlapping freight and urban mobility systems disrupt efficiency and elevate environmental and social concerns. Heavy-duty vehicles contribute significantly to CO2 emissions, while outdated infrastructure in older port cities exacerbates these issues. Technological innovations such as real-time traffic monitoring, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital twins, are transforming how port cities manage logistics and reduce environmental impact. Green transport initiatives, including electric vehicles, intermodal hubs and clean energy systems, demonstrate the potential to reduce emissions and improve urban liveability. Collaborative efforts from governments like the EU-funded PORTIS project showcase how aligning the objectives of port authorities and urban planners can foster resilient, sustainable systems. This paper reviews innovative approaches to addressing transport challenges in port cities, emphasizing sustainable and technological solutions that integrate urban and port operations. The future of port cities lies in adopting integrated approaches that balance economic, environmental and social priorities, ensuring their evolution into efficient, sustainable hubs for global trade and urban life.

Urban mobility planning is one of the key elements in building a sustainable future. Strategic management of urban transport traffic not only reduces congestion and minimises the negative impact on the environment but also positively affects the improvement of residents' quality of life. Furthermore, following the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive approved by the European Union in 2023, companies are obliged to submit annual reports on their environmental impact. One of its elements is the calculation of the organization's carbon footprint, which includes emissions caused by means of transport, including emissions from commuting to work. This case study investigates the impact of transport accessibility on employee preferences and behaviour in the context of changing the premises location, using the example of the Maritime Institute of Gdynia Maritime University (GMU), located at the newly opened Offshore Center in Gdansk seaport. The research hypothesis states that the relocation to new premises with limited transport accessibility may, as a consequence, influence the choice of commuting transportation methods among employees, potentially leading to a shift towards less sustainable means of transport. The results of the research survey prove that there is a complex interconnection between transport accessibility, commuting behaviours, and sustainable mobility initiatives. This pilot study aims to contribute to urban mobility planning by exploring how to transport accessibility influences employee behaviour and by proposing strategies to improve commuting conditions and promote more sustainable solutions.

Sustainable transport transformation increasingly depends on the configuration and performance of urban infrastructure systems. In coastal and port cities, decarbonizing transport is particularly complex due to spatial constraints, heritage protection requirements, and the coexistence of freight and passenger flows. In such environments, accessibility functions as a key indicator of transport infrastructure performance, reflecting how effectively transport systems enable low-carbon and multimodal mobility choices. Gdynia, a major Baltic port city in Poland, represents a context in which infrastructure limitations intersect with growing mobility demand. The concentration of port-related traffic, compact urban form, and limited opportunities for network expansion create structural conditions that may reinforce car dependency. This study examines infrastructure and accessibility challenges at the micro-scale of the Faculty of Navigation at Gdynia Maritime University, a centrally located campus with limited integration into public and active transport systems. Based on a survey of 342 respondents, including students and employees, the research analyzes modal split, travel time, and perceived barriers to sustainable mobility. The findings reveal infrastructure gaps in public transport connectivity, cycling network integration, and parking policy, collectively influencing transport behavior and constraining the shift toward low-carbon mobility. The study highlights the importance of infrastructure alignment, intermodal integration, and accessibility-based planning as prerequisites for smart and sustainable transport systems in coastal areas.

Across Europe, cities are redefining the function of streets in city centers, transforming them from spaces primarily serving car traffic into vibrant, liveable public spaces. These transformations reflect a broader shift toward sustainable urban development, aimed at fostering local communities, enhancing walkability, and reducing the environmental impact of transport. Gdynia’s Starowiejska Street—one of the key service-oriented streets in the port city center—underwent a redesign in 2023 that prioritized pedestrians, local services, and social interaction. This article examines customers’ transport preferences when visiting retail and service establishments along Starowiejska Street, analyzing differences by business type and the perceived role of parking availability. The study draws on a field survey conducted in May 2025 among 588 users of the street, complemented by inferential testing, binary logistic regression, correspondence analysis, and k-means cluster analysis, providing both descriptive and multivariate evidence on customer mobility patterns in a shared street environment. The results confirm that the street functions primarily as a local, pedestrian- and public transport-oriented destination, with walking (46.6%) and public transport (28.2%) dominating access modes. Statistically significant associations between travel mode, visit frequency, and business type were established through chi-square testing. Cluster analysis identified three distinct customer mobility profiles—Local Regulars, Occasional Visitors, and Car-Oriented Visitors—reflecting differentiated accessibility needs across the street’s commercial mix. Because the survey was conducted on a single day in 2025, two years after the redesign and without a pre-redesign baseline or a comparison street, the study describes the current, post-redesign accessibility pattern rather than demonstrating a change caused by the redesign. Within this scope, the case of Starowiejska Street illustrates how the organization of access to local services and public space is associated with everyday mobility choices in a way that appears compatible with environmental and economic sustainability goals. The redesign also illustrates, descriptively, how a more inclusive, pedestrian-oriented built environment can broaden accessibility for diverse user groups—including older residents, caregivers, and people with mobility limitations—whose needs are central to universal design thinking. The study contributes to the growing body of research on sustainable urban mobility by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between accessibility, street design, and local commerce in a single European port-city case. The research was supported by Gdynia Maritime University and conducted within the framework of the EU Horizon project SPINE—Smart Public Transport Initiative for Climate-Neutral Cities in Europe—situating the findings within a broader European context of mobility transition.