The intense growth of cities affects their inhabitants to a considerable extent. The issues facing the traveling population include congestion and growing harmful emissions. Urban transport requires changes towards eco-friendly solutions. However, even though new forms of traveling (sharing services) are being implemented, their integration with public transport remains problematic. On account of the large number of available services combined with the absence of their integration, city inhabitants are faced with the dilemma of choosing between one or several transport modes which would enable them to make the given trip. The main goal of this article is to propose a model for integration of different transport services which could support those who intend to travel in the decision-making process. Therefore, the parameters of a model of urban sharing services were identified and classified. The parameters discussed in the paper with reference to an extensive literature review describe how individual sharing services are functioning. What has also been identified is the location-specific factors as well as those related to the potential area of operation which affect the integration with public transport. In order to take all the relevant parameters into account and find a solution to the problem at hand, a multi-criteria decision-making approach has been proposed. To this end, scores and weights determining their impact on the model have been established. For purposes of the solution in question, the relevant calculations were conducted by referring to an actual need to travel between selected locations.
Development of electromobility in urban areas requires an appropriate level of vehicle charging infrastructure. Numerous methods for siting of charging stations have been developed to date, and they appear to be delivering diverse outcomes for the same area, which is why local authorities face the problem of choosing the right station layout. The solution proposed in this article is to use a travel planner to evaluate the distribution of charging stations over the area of a metropolis. The decision making support is achieved by determining optimal travel routes for electric vehicles according to their initial state of charge for the three selected station siting methods. The evaluation focused on the following three aspects: (1) number of travels that cannot be made (due to the lack of a charging station at a certain distance around the start point), (2) extension of the travel caused by the need to recharge the vehicle on-route, and (3) additional energy consumption by electric vehicles required to reach the charging station (necessity of departing from the optimal route). An analysis of the results has made it possible to determine a solution which is superior to others. For the case study analysed in the paper, i.e., the territory of the Metropolis of Upper Silesia and Dabrową Basin (Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia, GZM), the distribution of charging stations established in line with method I has returned the best results. What the method in question also makes possible is to indicate a safe minimum energy reserve to complete the travel by eliminating situations of unexpected vehicle immobilisation due to on-route energy depletion and by minimising the phenomenon referred to as range anxiety.
The development of sustainable transport is a priority in cities. It should aim to increase the number of trips made by public transport while minimizing social costs and the negative impact on the environment. The intensive development of cities from industrial to service-oriented and the phenomenon of suburbanization require changes in public transport services. However, often, operators do not change existing lines and stops or timetables justifying it with passenger habits. This approach may cause a discrepancy between the accessibility of public transport services and the demand for these services. Therefore, planning and improving the public transport system should be based on careful analyses. There are various approaches to this problem. The article presents a method to assess accessibility of public transport services using spatial and temporal analysis. The proposed method is based on dividing the area into basic fields and then, using appropriately selected measures, each field is assessed in terms of both the current level of accessibility of public transport services and the potential transport demand. A comparative analysis with the use of spatial tools indicates the degree of matching of these values and enables the identification of areas (basic fields) in which improvement of public transport services is required. For the proposed method, a case study was carried out for the city of Czeladź, located in Metropolis GZM in the southern part of Poland. The method can support decision making to improve the current public transport system.
The paper presents a method of the assessment of spatial integration of bike-sharing stations in urban agglomerations based on GIS tools for analyses. The method uses four sub-models: system of bike-sharing stations, road and street network, demand for bike-sharing ridership, bike-sharing ridership routing, and value matrix of spatial integration measures. The presented method allows the identification of different categories of segments of the road and street network used for bike travels and enables the identification of the set of segments that should be upgraded into bike-friendly infrastructure offering bike lanes or cycle paths in order to ensure the appropriate level of spatial integration of bike-sharing stations. The possibility of the application of the method has been studied on the example of the existing bike-sharing system in Katowice, a city in southern Poland. The research presented in the paper has been conducted based on data on bike rentals and bike trips from eight months of 2018. Selected results of the spatial integration assessment of bike-sharing stations, which may be useful for making investment decisions in the bike-sharing system development, are presented.
1 January 2018 in Scientific Journal of Silesian University of Technology. Series Transport
Ensuring high standard of service of public transport is among the most important goals of sustainable mobility. One of the most promising subsystems of public transport in this respect is the tram transport. Trams are eco-friendly and able to transport large numbers of passengers. However, in order to shape an efficient tram system, it is important to minimize the possibility of occurrence of incidents involving trams and road vehicles at intersections of roadways and tram tracks. The paper presents a proposition of a method of analysis of incidents in such locations. For ensuring a comprehensive approach to safety problem, the analysis encompasses two aspects: temporal and spatial. The proposed method has been presented on the example of tram network of the Metropolis GZM (Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia and Dąbrowa Basin) area. The analysis has enabled identification of causes of incidents for the two most hazardous intersections of roadways and tram tracks. For each of these locations, proposed solutions to improve the level of safety have been determined.