Abstract:

The European Union transport policy points to the more rational use of cars by private persons and increasing attractiveness of urban low-emission public transportation. The Park & Ride parking facilities system delivers on the call for multimodality and promotes the sustainable development of the city transport system. The paper was written with the aim to present the role of P&R car parks in the transport system of Krakow and changes in the occupancy of parking spaces between 2017 and 2020. The paper presents the principles of operating such car parks, factors affecting the use of the P&R system, identified regularities in the monthly and annual occupancy of parking spaces, and the impact of pandemics on the use of car parks. The analysis is based on unpublished hourly reports of parking entry records/logs obtained from former the Municipal Infrastructure and the Public Transport Authority of Krakow after statistical aggregation and analysis. The article presents the initial results of broader research in this area. All Krakow parking lots have their clear monthly and daily occupancy cycles. The number of vehicles in parking lots was significantly reduced due to introduced periodical lockdown and long remote functioning of companies, offices, universities and schools due to Covid 19. However, there is a renewed interest in P&R car parks in Krakow and a strong need for investment to expand the system and add more P&R car park sites in new locations.