Abstract
Since 1990, the number of local public transport passengers has been steadily decreasing with a simultaneous increase in the number of residents using individual transport. Since that process has contributed to an increase in traffic congestion and the deterioration of air quality in cities, local governments have tried to reverse that negative trend. A few years now, a reversal of this trend has been observed in some cities. This article, using data on the number of passengers in over 80 Polish cities, presents regression models explaining the factors influencing the demand for public transport services, and it estimates the demand elasticity related to various independent variables. The explanatory model refers both to the features of the cities’ socio-economic environment and to the organization of the service. The results indicate that local policies matter: the density of the public transport network is the most important factor in relation to the volume of demand, while the ticket price level is almost irrelevant. Demand is also clearly increasing in the largest cities, but the relationship between demand and population size is not a linear one.
Highlights
The development of individual motorization combined with cultural changes has led to a decrease in the level of public transport services in cities in different countries, including Poland
Is it determined by the policies implemented by local authorities and, if so, which of them are likely to be the most effective? Or is the social context related to the characteristics of individual cities predominant? We try to answer these questions in this article, which goal is to find factors that determine the elasticity of demand for urban public transport services
The data presented in the previous section suggest a closer look at the impact of city size on the changes in demand and size for local public transport is necessary
Summary
The development of individual motorization combined with cultural changes has led to a decrease in the level of public transport services in cities in different countries, including Poland. A situation in which the increase in income is accompanied by an increase in demand for passenger transport services may occur in large cities, where the quality of urban transport is high At that time, it is treated as a substitute for a car, the possession of which is not significantly sensitive to changes in the financial situation of the population (Asensio et al, 2003 apud Matas 2004). All countries of the region have experienced a rapid increase of private car ownership in the early stages of the economic and political transition of the 1990s at the same time as the painful transformation of inefficient publicly owned companies, including those responsible for urban public transport Both of these factors have had a direct impact on changes in the demand and supply of transport services. Conducting a study based on the most recent data may provide a new insight into the studied topic
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