The Second Generation Electromobility in Polish Urban Public Transport: The Factors and Mechanisms of Spatial Development

Abstract

One of the key challenges on the road to sustainable mobility is the development of low/zero emission urban public transport (UPT). This is crucial in order to meet environmental requirements aiming at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. In some countries (e.g., Poland) reduction of air pollution is also an important reason behind the implementation of low/zero emission UPT. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors and mechanisms influencing the development of modern electromobility in Polish UPT. We have examined all 242 UPT systems in the country in terms of the characteristics of the relevant urban municipalities, such as size, economic prosperity, level of human and social capital, development paths of urban public transport in the long term as well as the institutional context and proximity and connections to other cities with experience in electromobility. Classification and statistical methods are used based on a variety of approaches, as assigning a score to various preliminarily identified indicators or applying correlation between quantities to verify the formulated hypotheses. Our analysis demonstrates that electromobility adoption is the result of a combination of favourable economic, urban, social and technological characteristic features of a given city. Zero or low emission buses are more common in large cities which are highly positioned in urban hierarchy, economically sound and which are characterized by a well-developed tertiary economy as well as by high human capital. An additional factor that positively influences the implementation of electromobility—in particular at the very first stage—is proximity to the location of low emission bus producers. The leadership in modern electromobility can be understood as part of a broader, proactive development policy of the cities aimed at improving the quality of life of their residents. This is especially important in medium-sized towns where utilizing electric vehicles can be an instrument to maintain or even develop their role and status. The results of the article may provide a basis for creating sustainable urban policies, especially sustainable mobility and improving environmental quality.

The Development of Electromobility in the European Union: Evidence from Poland and Cross-Country Comparisons

“…The problems of the Polish coal industry also result from inadequate investment outlays and the frequent cases of irrational deposit management, leading to the shrinking of coal operating resources (operational resources are deposits constituting part of balance sheet and off-balance sheet resources, which can be used when it is technically and economically viable and complies with laws including environmental regulations, less expected losses) [13]. These deposits were estimated in 2008 at 2090 m tons, which allowed for the uninterrupted mining of coal until 2035 [23].…”

“…They include the lack of access to the proven technologies of production and effective resources as well as a relatively low level of general prosperity [10]. Special attention should be given to the following problems [11,12] Unfortunately, no breakthrough changes have been recorded despite a period of four years of implementing the plan and a relatively good identification of barriers to electromobility [13].…”

The importance of ticket price in public transport in nonmetropolitan rural areas in Poland

“…But public transport is not only an essential pillar of daytoday activities for many but also a critical element of strategies following sustainable development (Banister, 2008;Taczanowski et al, 2018;de Oña et al, 2021;Zijlstra & Verhetsel, 2021) being one of the elements that promote sustainable transport (Gärling & Schuitema, 2007). It is thus essential to ensure the good quality of public transport, including its environmental friendliness supported by, for example, low-emission bus technology (Taczanowski et al, 2018;Guzik et al, 2021), as well as punctuality, cleanliness, information and acceptable fares (de Oña et al, 2021) Although there is a growing list of public transport advantages and policy recommendations on how to make public transport more efficient and attractive (Redman et al, 2013;Rohani et al, 2013;Chowdhury et al, 2018), due to the steadily growing popularity of cars, public transport is unfortunately playing a secondary role in the majority of transport systems around the world (Hensher, 1998;Steg, 2003;Wang et al, 2021). Although recent technological innovations related to expanding the shared transport sector, such as carpooling and carsharing, are strongly emphasizing their mission to support sustainable development, they reinforce the prevailing dominance of the car industry, and it is not certain yet whether they compete with or complement public transport (Schaller, 2021;Cats et al, 2022).…”

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“…Electric buses became very popular as part of the "electromobility" campaign [6][7][8][9][10]. The use of gas [11] or biofuels [12] in the form of low-emission drives has developed, too.…”