SPATIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF ACCESS TO BUS TRANSPORT BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF CORE-IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS CONNECTIONS IN THE WROCŁAW AGGLOMERATION

Abstract

Accessibility to public transport is a very important factor in determining the general transport accessibility of a given area. Commonly, the bus is the only alternative solution for a car in mobility. However, it is not possible to ensure the same level of possibility of traveling by bus for each location. As a consequence, there may be areas excluded from the service when there are not enough bus connections. On the other hand, the presence of the main transport routes (e.g., regional and national roads), as well as railways, significantly increases the possibilities of mobility with the use of public transport. The aim of the article is to diagnose direct bus connections in the Wrocław agglomeration but only between the immediate surroundings of Wrocław and itself as a core. One of the secondary aims is to identify areas with limited access to those connections and to propose solutions to the diagnosed problems. Two rings of municipalities around the city have been designated as the area of the Wrocław agglomeration as the immediate surroundings of the core. The main research method is the analysis of collected numerical data and using the empirical Bayesian Kriging method to determine areas of different levels of accessibility to bus transport. In addition, the capabilities of PTV Visum made it possible to perform modeling of bus connections. The 2021/2022 timetables of bus connections providing direct access to Wrocław were taken into account. The results of the study are proposals for solutions that may constitute directions for the development of passenger bus transport in the Wrocław agglomeration in order to improve the accessibility of bus transport within the Wrocław agglomeration.