Accessibility to various destinations by public and private transport in Szczecin

Abstract

The analysis presented herein is aimed at indicating disparities in accessibility to some selected travel destinations by means of private and public transport in the city of Szczecin. Accessibility is a simple measure of potential interactions between two points in space. For the purpose of the study, an original model of an individual transportation system has been developed using Google Maps API data. In order to do so, some GTFS and pedestrian-related data have been downloaded. To calculate source-destination travel times at certain times of the day for four different parameters of pedestrian motion speed, ArcGIS Network Analyst software has been used. Five research methods have been applied: the proximity measure, the population percentage measure, the cumulative accessibility measure, the potential accessibility index and the potential accessibility quotient. In order to develop an ultimate accessibility rating for housing estates in Szczecin, a synthetic accessibility measure has been developed. The synthetic accessibility measure consists of 9 standardised components/values for both public and private (car) transport. The potential accessibility to the population is part of the synthetic accessibility sub-measure. The isochrones have been drawn in order to analyse the workplaces and secondary schools. Moreover, data concerning accessibility to the nearest kindergarten, primary school, hospital, cinema, shopping centre and indoor swimming pool have also been taken into consideration when calculating the synthetic measure. In the case of potential accessibility measures, it is usually the highest in the city centre. Obviously, the nearer a particular facility, the higher its accessibility measure is. The only disparities between the measures for public and private transport are observed in areas which are not covered by the public transportation network.