Public transport accessibility to upper secondary schools measured by the potential quotient: The case of Kraków

Abstract

Abstract The spatial differences in public transport accessibility to upper secondary schools are examined in this article, using the potential accessibility model, and based on the example of the city of Kraków. In order to achieve this goal, the potential quotient index has been used, taking into account both the demand for educational services operationalised with the population aged 15–19, and the supply of services depicted by the supply of places for pupils in different types of upper secondary school. A supplementary objective is to present recommendations for transport and educational policy implemented in the city in the context of potential locations of new upper secondary schools based on, among other parameters, the mean centre of the potential accessibility distribution and the potential accessibility dispersion index. We conclude that to better balance access to different types of schools throughout the city in the future, a new location for a general upper secondary school could be considered in the southern or eastern parts of Kraków.