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Nowadays, the majority of society decides to use individual transport for everyday travel, which negatively affects the congestion of cities. Nevertheless, in the transport policy of the European Union, public transport is becoming more and more important, which is reflected in strategic documents in the field of sustainable transport development. The effect of this action is to increase the attractiveness of public collective transport, which will also translate into a reduction in pollutant emissions. This article aims to verify the implementation of the European Union's sustainable transport development policy concerning the use of low- and zero-emission rolling stock in the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie Metropolis. As part of the work, the strategic documents of the European Union in the field of sustainable development of transport were analysed. In addition, the idea of establishing the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis in the context of the policy of sustainable transport development was introduced and the public transport system functioning in the area of the Metropolis GZM was characterized.

The article presents the problem of the cargo transport with the example of a selected mode of transport in Poland. The volume of goods transported by air transport in 2010-2021 was analysed. Cargo transport in air transport is very popular. From year to year, there is an increase in the volume of transported goods. The coronavirus pandemic, and the related economic crisis did not significantly affect cargo transport, as was the case with passenger transport, the number of which decreased significantly during the pandemic.

The article presents the issue of the transport of goods in relation to sea transport. Sea transport has been known to mankind for a long time. Currently, maritime transport is not limited only to the transport of goods and/or passengers along sea routes, which are carried out between seaports using appropriately adapted means of transport. It is a branch of transport, which consists of a very good knowledge of navigation, highly specialized staff, and a wide range of containers for transporting various types of cargo, often requiring specialized conditions. In addition, sea transport is perfectly combined with intermodal transport, so that in the end, the transport process is the most beneficial for all participants, i.e., the customers, sellers, distributors, and manufacturers. The main purpose of the article was to present the volume of goods transported in this branch of transport. The article, after introducing the issue, presents the classification of sea vessels, refers to the market of maritime transport services and its conditions for further development, and analyzes the overall volume of goods transported in the seaports of Gdańsk and Gdynia against the background of other Polish seaports in the years 2011-2021.

Currently, the branch of air transport is one of the most dynamically developing branches of transport. Modern air transport systems provide relatively high quality of services in terms of satisfaction, preferences, and tastes of potential recipients, passengers, and freight operators. Air transport systems use highly advanced technologies, equipment, infrastructure, and appropriate rules and procedures in order to ensure the desired quality of services. The article presents an analysis of the volume of passenger and cargo transport in air transport on the example of the Warszawa Okęcie International Airport (Poland). The analysis covered the years from 2011 to 2021. In addition, the market of air services, and air connections with Warszawa Okęcie International Airport were characterized.

Rail transport is one of the branches of transport included in the group of land transport, and its operation is related to the transport of people and cargo by means of rail transport on a specially designated railroad built for this purpose. The article presents the classification of transported cargo in rail transport, the characteristics of the rail transport market in Europe, as well as the results of the analysis of the rail transport volume in Poland in 2010-2021. This analysis included an assessment of the following features: mass of transported cargo, performed transport and operational work, the average distance of cargo transport for a group of cargo transported by rail and the volume of intermodal transport. The obtained results allowed to conclude that the transport of goods by rail is systematically increasing. Moreover, intermodal transport is developing well.

In 2015, over 17% of pedestrians were killed during vehicle crashes in Hong Kong while it raised to 18% from 2017 to 2019 and expected to be 25% in the upcoming decade. In Hong Kong, buses and the metro are used for 89% of trips, and walking has traditionally been the primary way to use public transportation. This susceptibility of pedestrians to road crashes conflicts with sustainable transportation objectives. Most studies on crash severity ignored the severity correlations between pedestrian-vehicle units engaged in the same impacts. The estimates of the factor effects will be skewed in models that do not consider these within-crash correlations. Pedestrians made up 17% of the 20,381 traffic fatalities in which 66% of the fatalities on the highways were pedestrians. The motivation of this study is to examine the elements that pedestrian injuries on highways and build on safety for these endangered users. A traditional statistical model's ability to handle misfits, missing or noisy data, and strict presumptions has been questioned. The reasons for pedestrian injuries are typically explained using these models. To overcome these constraints, this study used a sophisticated machine learning technique called a Bayesian neural network (BNN), which combines the benefits of neural networks and Bayesian theory. The best construction model out of several constructed models was finally selected. It was discovered that the BNN model outperformed other machine learning techniques like K-Nearest Neighbors, a conventional neural network (NN), and a random forest (RF) model in terms of performance and predictions. The study also discovered that the time and circumstances of the accident and meteorological features were critical and significantly enhanced model performance when incorporated as input. To minimize the number of pedestrian fatalities due to traffic accidents, this research anticipates employing machine learning (ML) techniques. Besides, this study sets the framework for applying machine learning techniques to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities brought on by auto accidents.

Walking is a basic form of activity for every human being and has many advantages, including health, economic and environmental benefits. Every journey made using various means of transport begins and ends on foot. As is well known, the group of road users particularly exposed to the risk of serious injury in road accidents, apart from cyclists, also includes pedestrians. These are the so-called vulnerable road users. Pedestrians are a group of road users that is often deprecated by many drivers of motor vehicles, but very important in road traffic. Pedestrian injuries and pedestrian fatalities have enormous social and economic consequences. The problem of high pedes-trian risk on Polish roads is well known and has been widely described in the scientific literature last few years. However, the reasons for this state of affairs have not been fully explained, as evidenced by the statistics of road traffic incidents. Despite many studies in this area, the causes indicated in the research often differ depending on the area of analysis, the environment in which the incident took place, location, participants of the incident, environmental conditions, behaviorism and many other features. Therefore, the main goal of the article was to determine the factors influencing the formation of fatalities in road traffic accidents among pedestrians in acci-dents involving pedestrians and motor vehicles in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland) in 2016-2021. The logit model presented in the article allowed for the conclusion that the main attributes influencing the increasing the risk of pedestrian death in road accidents involving a pedestrian with a motor vehicle include such features as driving under the influence of alcohol by the driver, exceeding the speed limit by the vehicle driver, when the road incident involves a heavy vehicle (truck, bus), a pedestrian is a male, pedestrian is over 60 years old, is under the influence of alcohol, the incident took place outside built-up area, at night, i.e. from 10:00 p.m. up to 6:00 a.m, in other than good weather conditions. The obtained results can be used in various activities, campaigns aimed at improving the safety of pedestrian traffic in the area of the analysis.

For many years in many Western Europe countries, cycling has been associated with not only recreation and tourism but has equally gained an important function as a means of transport used in everyday commuting to work, study and entertainment. The bicycle appears to be a very good alternative to motor vehicles that produce exhaust fumes and create congestion on road transport networks. Not only is the bicycle environmentally friendly and takes up little space in road transport networks, but also, the time of bicycle travel is often competitive in relation to travel made by private car or public transport. This article presents the characteristics of the bicycle infrastructure and services offered in selected cities in the world and Poland, as well as the issues of bicycle counters as sources of data on bicycle traffic volume, along with an exemplary analysis of this type of data.

Trade with the use of internet technology (e-commerce) provides new opportunities for expansion on a larger scale for already existing business entities and offers prospects for rapid development for new companies. This is possible due to the low entry barriers that encourage the sale of products. Online retail trade is gaining increased popularity in Poland. This article aims to analyze e-commerce development in Poland from 2010-2020. This analysis is based on data from the Central Statistical Office. The results of the analysis clearly show that the share of purchases made via the internet has been systematically growing from year to year. This growth contributes to the faster development of transport logistics, as well as the transport of the goods itself.

In the transportation systems are different types of intersections. Among them, roundabouts are considered the safest solution. The application of roundabouts is conditioned by many factors. One of them borders on area development. Roundabouts, among others, are localized in important city places, thus serve as a landmark in the city or are localized on the boundaries of areas with different communication functions, thus constituting an organizational landscape feature. Sometimes, they diversify the space of a street or close the perspective of a monotonous street. Hence, beyond the basic functions, roundabouts with the appropriate central island arrangements can also play the function of organizing the architecture of the local area. The ways and possibilities of roundabout central island arrangements are presented in this article. An interesting central island arrangement shows that roundabouts play an esthetic and organizing landscaping role.

Traffic-calming measures (TCMs) are non-invasive devices designed to improve road mobility and urban areas on a human scale. Despite their potential, they have been in use for a long time and now have to deal with the latest technological innovations in the automotive field, such as cooperative driving technologies (CDTs), to improve energy efficiency in cities. The goal of this study is to explore the safety and operational performances of TCMs featuring CDTs in urban areas. An urban-scale road network close to a seaside area in the City of Mazara del Vallo, Italy, was properly redesigned and simulated in AIMSUN to assess several design solutions, where connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) have been employed as a more energy-efficient public transportation system. Preliminarily, the fine-tuning process of model parameters included CAVs and human-operated vehicles (HOVs) flowing through the network up to saturation conditions. The safety of the planned solutions was tested by using surrogate measures. The micro-simulation approach allowed us to know in advance and compare the operational and safety performances of environmentally friendly solutions involving TCMs and CDTs. These results can also support urban road decision makers in pivoting urban-traffic-calming-based design solutions featuring cooperative driving technologies toward energy efficiency transitions for smart cities.

Currently, more inhabitants use a car for their travels. The consequence of the increase in traffic on the roads is the deterioration of road conditions, decrease in the level of road safety, increasing air pollution, as well as the problem of finding a place to park a vehicle. This article analyzes the daily variability of the use of parking spaces in the Paid Parking Zone (PPZ) covered by Dynamic Parking Information (DPI) in Gliwice before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first stage of the work, the daily variability of the use of parking spaces and the rotation indicator were analyzed in parking spaces at PPZ covered by DPI before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wilcoxon test was performed to verify whether the differences are statistically significant. The results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the decrease in the use of parking space and the rotation indicator in the parking spaces at PPZ. In addition, the research shows that collecting fees for parking a vehicle in a parking space increases the use of space and the rotation indicator. Due to this, parking spaces are available for more drivers.

Transport plays an important role in the economy of any country. Efficient and developed transport infrastructure of various modes of transport significantly affects the availability of transport services, and consequently, the well-being of citizens. This article presents an analysis of the volume of passengers and cargo transport using rail and road transport in Poland in 2009-2019. These analyses were carried out based on data obtained from the Central Statistical Office. All data concerns Polish entities that provide services in the field of passenger and freight transport in Poland and focuses on such information as the volume of passengers and cargo by individual means of transport, broken down into domestic and international transport. Further, the presented analyses concern the length of the available rail and road routes, tracks, the size of the rolling stock as well as the groups of transported loads.

Nowadays, air transport is treated as a dynamically developing sector of the world economy. The technological solutions used in this kind of transport are highly advanced; thus, generate high costs, ranging from research through production to the implementation phase. Due to its technological advancement, air transport has several significant advantages over other kinds of transport. This paper presents the characteristics of selected airports in Poland together with statistical data characterising the functioning of the airports. In addition, the plans in recent years regarding the development of air transport infrastructure in Poland were summarised.

In the modern world, transport as an integral part of social life is important. The development of all modes of transport requires continuous efficient management of the transport process, as well as the use of tools to optimise this process. This article aims to analyse international road cargo transport in EU countries and Poland from 2008-2018. The first part of this article analyses the number of employees and the trade of transport companies in EU countries. Then, the share of individual modes of transport in the transport of cargo in Poland from 2008 and 2018 is presented. The next section presents the results of the forecast of the volume of cargo transported by road in Poland from 2019-2021. The forecast values of the volume of cargo transport in Poland for 2019-2021, which were determined from the additive and multiplicative model, are at a similar level to the values for 2008-2018.

As a rule, the road traffic volume distribution in particular hours on working days showscertain patterns on specific types of roads. Public holidays during the year cause disturbances and differences in the distribution of the daily traffic volume compared to working days. The road traffic volume distribution during the day is very important in the analysis of phenomena occurring in terms of road traffic. Knowledge of the values of traffic volumes during the day and their variability allows for the determination of a number of measures and parameters assessing traffic conditions prevailing on the elements of transport networks. Knowledge and understanding of changes in the distribution of traffic volume during a day are crucial for many aspects of transport engineering, such as road traffic control, road safety, and forecasting the traffic volume. Thisarticle evaluates the differences in the road traffic volume distributions during the day between public holidays and working days. The analysis was performed for selected intersections located in the city of Gliwice. The results of the statistical test show that on public holidays, there was less traffic volume compared to working days. The greatest decrease in the value of traffic volume occurred on 3rd May,25th, and 26th December. This decrease ranged from 27.24% to 35.67%. It can be noticed that for all analyzed intersections, the smallest differences in the values of traffic volumes between a public holiday and a working day occurred on 1st November. Additionally, the natureof the impact of public holidays on the road traffic volume on days before and afterpublic holidays was examined. The nonparametric hypothesis testing method was used to investigate changes in the road traffic volume patterns caused by public holidays. The results of Friedman's test show and confirm that there are differences in traffic volumes on the day before and after apublic holiday and an average day.

During the transportation of goods, damage and destruction of the transported cargo constitute a very large part of the damage. The most common direct cause of damage is an improper arrangement and securing of the transported load. An improperly secured load may pose a threat to the transporters and bystanders. Incorrectly secured loads can fall from the vehicle, obstruct movement, and cause injury or death. In addition, improperly secured loads can cause injury or death in heavy braking or a collision. The way the load is distributed and secured on the vehicle can negatively affect driving behaviour, making it difficult to control the vehicle. This article presents the conditions related to the transport of loads in road transport, describes both the forces that act on the load during the journey of a vehicle and the most important techniques for securing loads in road transport.

The transport accessibility of cities decreases with the increase in road traffic. Planners, traffic engineers, and road managers are looking for solutions thatwill reduce congestion on city streets without limiting transport accessibility to the city center. The article presents an overview of solutions used in Poland and abroad thataim to encourage people whotravel by car to the city center to use other means of transport. The solutions were identified that can contribute to reducing road traffic in the city without limiting its transport accessibility based on the area inventory in Krakow. The next part of the article analyzes the use of P&R parking and the bike-sharing Wavelo system in Krakow in 2018. The results of the conducted analyses indicate that the most entrances to the P&R parking in Krakow were in the morning hours, whereasthe most exits from these parking werein the afternoon. The holiday monthswere characterized by a lower use of parking space compared withthe remaining months. These conclusions may indicate that the people using the analyzed parkinglotsare mainly commuters. On the contrary, the analysis of the use of the bike-sharing Wavelosystem in Krakow allows for the conclusion that a large number of people used rental bikes for short journeys. These trips can complement the journeys made with the use of public transport or as a continuation of the journey after leaving the car in the P&R parking. Investments and development of this type of solutions may be an incentive for people traveling by car to use another means of transport.

The intersection of a public road with a railway line in one level, called a rail-road crossing, is a particularly dangerous place due to the traffic flows crossing it. The regulations give absolute priority to a rail vehicle over a public road user; in addition, significant differences in the masses and speeds of moving vehicles require traffic regulation consisting of adequate passage protection. To this end, the road on which motor vehicles is equipped with road signs informing drivers that they are approaching an intersection with a railway line. The rail-road crossing, depending on thecategory, is equipped with signalingdevices warning of an oncoming train and barriers closing the entire width of the road or part of it, operated or operating automatically. In Poland, the category of rail-road crossing, the associated method and type of security used at the crossing, is determined on the basis of relevant acts and internal regulations of the railway line manager. The paper presents an overviewof the state of safety at rail-road crossings in Poland in the years 2008-2018, presents applicable regulations regarding traffic safety at rail-road crossings,and presents methods of protection of rail-road crossings. In addition, a map of concentration of events on rail-road crossings was presented for the area of the Silesian Voivodeship. The effect of the case study for the Silesian Voivodeship is to identify sensitive rail-road crossings with the highest number of events during the analysis period.

The main objective of the work was inventory intersections like roundabouts in all cities with poviat rights located in two voivodeships of Poland: Upper Silesian and Masovian, and then performing users surveys of registered roundabouts. Survey research had two main objectives. The first one was to learn how vehicle drivers, pedestrians and cyclists perceived roundabouts as safe or unsafe road solutions. The second one was to learn about the behaviour of three users groups: vehicle drivers, pedestrians and cyclists on this type of road infrastructure in terms of traffic safety.

Transport of oversize cargo is a specific form of transport service. Specialised equipment is required for its implementation, while the number of people involved in the transport process itself is much higher than in the case of classic road transport form. This paper presents the problems related to permits and penalties that are used in the carriage of oversize cargo and the problems of transport safety in relation to the techniques of fixing oversize loads in road transport.

ABSTRACT: In modern times, we observe many new trends, including technological, economic, cultural, ecological, and economic changes, which are part of the fast and uneven process of globalization. The current educational system is undergoing global changes caused by the current situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing both academic teachers and students not only to change the way they function or operate, but also to change attitudes and beliefs, especially regarding new media and remote learning. The article presents an analysis of the factors influencing the selection of a given form of learning in technical faculties from among three hypothetical options: stationary learning, remote learning, and hybrid learning. This analysis was based on the results of a survey conducted among students after two years of experience studying in the COVID-19 pandemic. The obtained results allowed for the selection of features influencing the choice of a given form of learning by the students. The knowledge of these factors is especially valuable for university authorities making decisions about the form of student learning after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

E-scooters as a new form of mobility are gaining more and more popularity. This popularity results from the flexibility of this mode of transport, but above all from the positive impact on the natural environment through the much higher energy efficiency of an e-scooter compared to a motor vehicle (according to the literature the rate is 2 km per kWh equivalent for a motor vehicle and the range is 90–100 km per kWh in the case of an e-scooter). This paper introduces a discussion on the future development of an energy-efficient electric scooter sharing system based on stakeholder analysis methods. The implementation of the e-scooter sharing system involves linking several areas of human activity, including social activity. This, in turn, relates to the interactions and building of relationships with entities, particularly those influencing the provision of services and their effects. The large number of entities and the complexity of the relations between them make it a challenge both to identify stakeholders in the development of the public e-scooter system and to indicate their roles in shaping the sustainable development strategy for urban mobility. The following study was based on the methodological foundations of stakeholder theory and social network analyses. The main research objective of the article is to identify and assign to different groups the stakeholders influencing the sustainable development of energy-efficient e-scooter sharing systems based on Polish cities. An evaluation was carried out using expert methods with a stakeholder analysis, based on matrix and mapping methods, and with the MACTOR application. Relationships and cooperation suggestions were established for each of the stakeholder groups, which could become an important part of the strategic approach to supporting public transport service providers and organizers, as well as allowing for further reductions in energy consumption in the city by introducing such services on a large scale. The cooperation of the entities participating in the implementation of bike-sharing services can contribute to their greater sustainable development and assurance using the new mobility modes, which consume less energy and at the same time make the city energy-efficient.

In low-latitude areas less than 10° in latitude angle, the solar radiation that goes into the solar still increases as the cover slope approaches the latitude angle. However, the amount of water that is condensed and then falls toward the solar-still basin is also increased in this case. Consequently, the solar yield still is significantly decreased, and the accuracy of the prediction method is affected. This reduction in the yield and the accuracy of the prediction method is inversely proportional to the time in which the condensed water stays on the inner side of the condensing cover without collection because more drops will fall down into the basin of the solar-still. Different numbers of scraper motions per hour (NSM), that is, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, are implemented to increase the hourly yield of solar still (HYSS) of the double-slope solar still hybrid with rubber scrapers (DSSSHS) in areas at low latitudes and develop an accurate model for forecasting the HYSS. The proposed model is developed by determining the best values of the constant factors that are associated with NSM, and the optimal values of exponent (n) and the unknown constant (C) for the Nusselt number expression (Nu). These variables are used in formulating the models for estimating HYSS. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem, thereby determining the optimal yields. Water that condensed and accumulated inside the condensing glass cover of the DSSSHS is collected by increasing NSM. This process increases in the specific productivity of DSSSHS and the accuracy of the HYSS prediction model. Results show that the proposed model can consistently and accurately estimate HYSS. Based on the relative root mean square error (RRMSE), the proposed model PSO–HYSS attained a minimum value (2.81), whereas the validation models attained Dunkle’s (78.68) and Kumar and Tiwari’s (141.37).

This paper is a case study, which among other things includes the analysis of the three roundabouts entry capacity: a turbo- and two spiralroundabouts. These intersections are located in one of the main road localised in Sosnowiec city (Poland). Before reconstruction, this road was characterised by unfavourable road and traffic conditions, insufficient capacity and low traffic safety level. The traffic congestion decreased significantly, traffic and road conditions, as well as the level of road traffic safety, were improved after the rebuilding of this route and the designing of three roundabouts on it. Results obtained from field measurements enabled comparative analysis of theoretical and empirical capacity values: lanes on the entry of turbo-roundabout and entries of the spiral-roundabout. This paper presents also characteristics of turbo- and spiralroundabouts with methods, which are dedicated to entry capacity calculation.

A roundabout is not a popular intersection type in Japan. Vehicular traffic at most road crossings are controlled by traffic lights. This article comments upon a survey of Japanese roundabouts along with their numerical characteristics concerning, among other aspects, the location of roundabouts in specific areas where the surrounding is managed in different ways (that is, urban area, suburban area, residential area, etc.). Moreso, the location of roundabouts in specific regions and prefectures, classification of roundabouts according to the number of legs, outer diameter, etc. The survey in question was conducted as part of a project entitled “Analysis of the applicability of the author's method of roundabouts entry capacity calculation developed for the conditions prevailing in Poland to the conditions prevailing at roundabouts in Tokyo (Japan) and in the Tokyo surroundings” financed by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange.

The assessment of psychotechnical parameters (that is, critical gaps and follow-up times) of vehicle drivers at roundabout Hitachi Taga, Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan was presented in this paper. The basis for this assessment were empirical data from measurements in the field, made in two different years. The first field measurement took place two years after the construction of the roundabout in 2014, and the second one in 2019. The results comparison of 2014 and 2019 was aimed at assessing possible changes in the psychotechnical parameters in time. This assessment was carried out as one of the element of the project titled “Analysis of the applicability of the author's method of roundabouts entry capacity calculation developed for the conditions prevailing in Poland to the conditions prevailing at roundabouts in Tokyo (Japan) and in the Tokyo surroundings”, financed by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange.

The transport of oversize cargo is distinguished by its specificity on the market of transport services. Specialised equipment is required for its implementation, and the number of people involved in the transport process itself is much higher than in the case of classic road transport. This paper presents the conditions related to the transport of oversize loads, characterised basic types of oversized cargo with the indication of the required documents related to the transport of this type of cargo. The method of preparation and organisation of oversize cargo transportation, as well as conditions of piloting vehicles with oversize cargoes, also are described.

The growing traffic on city streets leads to traffic disruptions, lowering the level of road safety, as well as the problem of finding a vacant parking space. Drivers looking for a vacant parking space on the street generate so-called search traffic. Paid parking zones are introduced to increase the availability of parking spaces for more drivers in many cities around the world. The development in the technology and information sector has contributed to the development of systems guiding drivers to vacant parking spaces. This article aims to analyze drivers’ subjective assessment of the ease of finding a vacant parking space in an area equipped with vehicle detection devices. Data from the Municipal Roads Authority in Gliwice (Poland) were obtained for the study, covering the use of parking spaces in the paid parking zone covered by dynamic parking information. Moreover, a survey was conducted among users of the paid parking zone in Gliwice. The answers of the respondents were used to build a logit model that allows determining the probability of a driver’s positive subjective assessment of the ease of finding a vacant parking space in an area equipped with vehicle detection devices. The results from the model allow the characterization of drivers who positively assess the ease of finding a vacant parking space in the area equipped with vehicle detection devices. In addition, it is possible to reach a group of drivers who negatively assessed the ease of finding a vacant parking space to learn about the factors that may cause them to change their assessment to a positive one. The research results allow city authorities to better manage parking spaces equipped with vehicle detection devices in the paid parking zone. This may change the negative assessment of the ease of finding a vacant parking space into a positive one.

Despite the potential of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), there are still many open questions on how road capacity can be influenced and what methods can be used to assess its expected benefits in the progressive transition towards fully cooperative driving. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the benefits of CAV technologies by investigating mobility-related issues of automated vehicles operating with a cooperative adaptive cruise control system on roundabout efficiency using microscopic traffic simulation. The availability of the adjustment factors for CAVs provided by the 2022 Highway Capacity Manual allowed to adjust the entry capacity equations to reflect the presence of CAVs on roundabouts. Two mechanisms of entry maneuver based on the entry lane type were examined to compare the capacity target values with the simulated capacities. The microscopic traffic simulator Aimsun Next has been of great help in building the “what-if” traffic scenarios that we analysed to endorse hypothesis on the model parameters which affect the CAVs’ capabilities to increase roundabouts’ throughput. The results highlighted that the increasing penetration rates of CAVs have greater impacts on the operational performances of roundabouts, and provided a synthetic insight to assess the potential benefits of CAVs from an efficiency perspective.

Numerous studies have reported the effective use of artificial intelligence approaches, particularly artificial neural networks (ANNs)-based models, to tackle tunnelling issues. However, having a high number of model inputs increases the running time and related mistakes of ANNs. The principal component analysis (PCA) approach was used in this work to select input factors for predicting tunnel boring machine (TBM) performance, specifically advance rate (AR). A reliable and precise forecast of TBM AR is desirable and critical for mitigating risk throughout the tunnel building phase. The developed PCAs (a total of four PCAs) were used with the artificial bee colony (ABC) method to predict TBM AR. To assess the created PCA-ANN-ABC model’s capabilities, an imperialist competitive algorithm-ANN and regression-based methods for estimating TBM AR were also suggested. To evaluate the artificial intelligence and statistical models, many statistical evaluation metrics were evaluated and generated, including the coefficient of determination (R2). The findings indicate that the PCA-ANN-ABC model (with R2 values of 0.9641 for training and 0.9558 for testing) is capable of predicting AR values with a high degree of accuracy, precision, and flexibility. The modelling approach utilized in this study may be used to other comparable studies involving the solution of engineering challenges.

Transportation, like other spheres of human activity, is constantly changing due to economic development [...]

The paper addresses issues related to Passenger Car Equivalents (PCEs) at roundabouts. Compared to other road units, the curvilinear elements of roundabout geometric design may impose greater constraints on vehicular trajectories and have a significant effect on the swept envelope of heavy vehicles. Specifically, the aim of the paper is to present the methodological approach which used traffic microsimulation to estimate PCEs. Focus is made on a case study which considered the conversion of a two-lane roundabout into a basic turbo roundabout with comparable size. Empirical capacity functions for both roundabouts were derived as target values to which simulated capacities by lane were compared. In order to estimate the PCEs a criterion of equivalence based on the amount of capacity used by cars and heavy vehicles is presented. AIMSUN allowed to simulate traffic conditions with different percentages of heavy vehicles at both roundabouts. Thus, variation of traffic conditions where mixed fleets operate was explored. A comparison was made between the PCEs estimated for each entry lane characterized by similar mechanism of entry maneuver. The results indicated there is a need to distinguish the impact of heavy vehicles when operational performance of a two-lane roundabout or a turbo-roundabout should be examined. Especially when circulating flows increase, a higher PCE value is expected than the value that the Highway Capacity Manual proposes for roundabouts.

In line with globally shared environmental sustainability goals, the shift towards citizen-friendly mobility is changing the way people move through cities and road user behaviour. Building a sustainable road transport requires design knowledge to develop increasingly green road infrastructures and monitoring the environmental impacts from mobile crowdsourced data. In this view, the paper presents an empirically based methodology that integrates the vehicle-specific power (VSP) model and microscopic traffic simulation (AIMSUN) to estimate second-by-second vehicle emissions at urban roundabouts. The distributions of time spent in each VSP mode from instantaneous vehicle trajectory data gathered in the field via smartphone were the starting point of the analysis. The versatility of AIMSUN in calibrating the model parameters to better reflect the field-observed speed-time trajectories and to enhance the estimation accuracy was assessed. The conversion of an existing roundabout within the sample into a turbo counterpart was also made as an attempt to confirm the reproducibility of the proposed procedure. The results shed light on new opportunities in the environmental performance evaluation of road units when changes in design or operation should be considered within traffic management strategies and highlighted the potential of the smart approach in collecting big amounts of data through digital communities.

The paper introduces a discussion regarding the development of a public bike-sharing system, considering random factors, based on selected external environmental analysis methods. The global energy crisis is forcing scientists to continuously improve energy-efficient sustainable methods and scientific solutions. It is particularly important in transportation since transport activities and the constant increase in the number of vehicles have a large share in global energy consumption. The following study investigates the social, technological, economic, environmental, and political aspects of bike-sharing systems in cities. The research purpose of the article is to select the most important macro-environmental factors and their mutual interaction influencing the sustainable development of bike-sharing systems based on the Polish cities case study. The evaluation was carried out through expert methods with STEEP environmental analysis, evaluation of factors with the weighted score, and structural analysis method with MICMAC computer application. The classification of key factors influencing the development of a bike-sharing system has divided them into five groups. It can support public transport service providers and organizers. This can optimize the planning process with decision-making based on future environmental trends.

General traffic measurements are carried out to determine basic traffic characteristics on voivodeship roads and national roads. The basic measure obtained during these measurements is annual average daily traffic. This is the number of vehicles that have passed over a specified point of a road section within a 24-h period on average within one year. For voivodeship roads, average daily traffic, average daily evening traffic and average daily night traffic are also determined. In the case of national roads, average daily summer traffic and average daily winter traffic are determined. The article presents a comparison of the characteristics for national roads in the Silesian Voivodeship and for national roads in Poland in the period 2000-2015.

A detailed analysis of traffic conditions at the intersection allows us to obtain information about the efficiency of its operation. This type of analysis usually involves assessing the capacity and scale of the intersection and applying classical measures to assess its quality. In Poland, for this purpose, methods developed by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways are used to estimate the capacity of intersections without traffic lights, intersections with traffic lights, and roundabouts. The paper presents the results of the analysis of traffic conditions at the intersection of Brzezinska and Nowochrzanowska Streets, located in Myslowice (Silesian Province, Poland). The paper also examines the findings on traffic safety at this intersection.

Tools for counting traffic are not only used to obtain information about traffic conditions and necessary data in order to design new transport system infrastructure. They primarily allow for the assessment of road users’ communication needs, as well as their dynamic mobility in the transport network of the analysis area. In these aspects, general traffic measurements (GTM), which, since 1965, have been performed in Poland every five years, are extremely helpful. The article presents the results of a detailed analysis of the data derived from the GTM conducted in the period 2005-2015 on voivodeship roads. The analysis was carried out using results from the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

This article discusses the results of an analysis of road traffic safety-related changes introduced in T. Kościuszki and Królowej Jadwigi Streets in Dąbrowa Górnicza between 2006 and 2015. These changes were caused by the redevelopment and traffic reorganization at two intersections on T. Kościuszki Street and one intersection on Królowej Jadwigi Street. Previously, the traffic flow through these intersections was controlled by means of road signs. Since then, traffic lights have been installed at two of them, while the third one has been converted into a single-lane roundabout.

The presence of heavy and slower vehicles within the traffic stream significantly reduces traffic capacity. This reduction increases with the higher participation of heavy vehicles in the stream, which, compared to passenger cars, move at a lower speed. Furthermore, they occupy more space on the road, are characterized by a longer reaction time to the road traffic situations, and put greater pressure on the surface structure, etc. In order to conduct analyses related to determination of the conditions in the traffic stream, the traffic stream mixed in terms of composition is converted from real vehicles into passenger car equivalents. For this purpose, the passenger car equivalent factors (Ei) appropriate for a given group of vehicles are used. The paper presents the results of a study aimed to determine the numerical values of passenger car equivalent factors for heavy vehicles (trucks, buses, trucks with trailers, articulated buses) on turbo roundabouts. The research was carried out on turbo roundabouts located in Poland.

Continuous, automatic measurements of road traffic volume allow the obtaining of information on daily, weekly or seasonal fluctuations in road traffic volume. They are the basis for calculating the annual average daily traffic volume, obtaining information about the relevant traffic volume, or calculating indicators for converting traffic volume from short-term measurements to average daily traffic volume. The covid-19 pandemic has contributed to extensive social and economic anomalies worldwide. In addition to the health consequences, the impact on travel behavior on the transport network was also sudden, extensive, and unpredictable. Changes in the transport behavior resulted in different values of traffic volume on the road and street network than before. The article presents road traffic volume analysis in the city before and during the restrictions related to covid-19. Selected traffic characteristics were compared for 2019 and 2020. This analysis made it possible to characterize the daily, weekly and annual variability of traffic volume in 2019 and 2020. Moreover, the article attempts to estimate daily traffic patterns at particular stages of the pandemic. These types of patterns were also constructed for the weeks in 2019 corresponding to these stages of the pandemic. Daily traffic volume distributions in 2020 were compared with the corresponding ones in 2019. The obtained results may be useful in terms of planning operational and strategic activities in the field of traffic management in the city and management in subsequent stages of a pandemic or subsequent pandemics.

In smart cities, it is expected that transport, communication as well as the movement of people and goods will take place in the shortest possible time while maintaining a high level of safety. In recent years, due to the significant increase in the number of passengers and vehicles on the road and the capacity limitations of transport networks, it has become necessary to use new technologies for intelligent control and traffic management. Intelligent transport systems use advanced technologies in the field of data gathering, information processing, and traffic control to meet current transport needs. To be able to effectively control and manage road traffic, it is necessary to have reliable mathematical models that allow for a faithful representation of the real traffic conditions. Models of this type are usually the basis of complex algorithms used in practice in road traffic control. The application of appropriate models reflecting the behavior of road users contributes to the reduction of congestion, the vehicles travel time on the transport network, fuel consumption and the emissions, which in turn support broadly understood energy savings. The article proposes a model that allows for the estimation of the maximum queue size at the signal-controlled intersection approach (so-called: maximum back-of-queue). This model takes into account the most important traffic characteristics of the vehicles forming this queue. The verification allowed for the conclusion that the proposed model is characterized by high compliance with the actual traffic and road conditions at the intersections with signal controllers located in built-up areas in Poland. The obtained compliance confirms the possibility of using the model for practical applications in calculating the maximum back-of-queue at signal-controlled intersections located in built-up areas in Poland.

The basic function of the Park and Ride (P&R) facility is to allow users to leave their vehicle on the outskirts of the city and to continue their journey to the city center using means of public transport, e.g., bus, tram, trolleybus, subway, train, or bike. In the first part of the paper, an analysis of the selected factors related to the functioning of P&R facilities in Warsaw (Poland) was performed. The main purpose of this paper was to identify and quantify the influence factors determining the choice of P&R facility during a journey. This analysis was performed for three hypothetical journey scenarios. A list of potential factors determining the choice of P&R facility during travel was compiled after conducting previous research in this area and studying the worldwide scientific literature on the subject. The structural parameters of the multinomial logit model were estimated based on the data from the survey conducted in Warsaw. The results of the analyses indicate that the decision to choose a hypothetical journey scenario depends on many factors, but primarily on the level of education, the number of years of having a driving license, age, the number of kilometers traveled during the year, and the performed activity.

The main aim of this study was to verify whether it is possible to utilize the model contained in the HCM 2010 methodology for evaluation of traffic capacity of the lanes at the entries to turbo roundabouts in Poland. The models contained in the HCM 2010 methodology were compared with the empirical values obtained for traffic capacity of the traffic lanes at the entries to turbo roundabouts with values of traffic capacity determined based on the author's own models developed based on the data collected at turbo roundabouts located in Poland. The comparison demonstrated a moderate consistency of the compared values of traffic capacity.

The park and ride (P&R) parking type is usually located near peripheral public transport stops. These parking places are dedicated to people who, after leaving their vehicle in the parking, continue their journey to the city center using some form of public transport such as bus, metro, rail or tram systems. This article aims to examine the features associated with P&R parking locations in use in Cracow (Poland). The analysis included the number of entries and exits to and from parking during particular periods of the day, week and year, parking time of vehicles, and parking space use. A parking peak hour factor was also calculated, which expresses the crowding degree of vehicle entries/exits in/out parking during a particular period. In addition, the paper presents an analysis of factors determining users to P&R parking use. In the modeling process, logit models were used, which, as stated after analyzing the literature on the subject, were already used in various countries around the world to describe the behavior of P&R parking users. However, so far, such research relating to Polish conditions has been not published in the available literature. The obtained results allowed to state that the most important factors determining the likelihood of using P&R parking in Cracow are age, number of years having a driving license, monthly income (gross), and an average number of trips made during a day. Other variables, which not included in the study, can influence the P&R parking use. However, the presented results are the basis for conducting furtherer, more in-depth analyses based on a larger number of independent variables that may determine the P&R parking use.

There are to two groups of turbo roundabouts used currently in Poland. The first group is turbo roundabouts with geometry and traffic organization designed following the model of Dutch turbo roundabouts with raised lane dividers. The other group is turbo roundabouts with traffic organization which entirely or partly corresponds to traffic organization of conventional turbo roundabouts, but with lane dividers not present, with their function performed by a single continuous line of P-2 type. Turbo roundabouts in the world are considered as solutions which are characterized by a high level of road safety and allow for effective flow at substantial traffic intensities. The data about turbo roundabouts in Poland analysed by the author show that there are substantially more turbo roundabouts without raised lane dividers. The paper attempts to answer to the question of whether turbo roundabouts with lane dividers in the form of a single continuous line ensure the appropriate level of road safety. Furthermore, the comparison of the level of road safety in turbo roundabouts equipped in raised lane dividers with turbo roundabouts with lane separators in the form of continuous line revealed that turbo roundabouts with raised lane dividers are safer solutions than turbo roundabouts with traffic lane dividers in the form of continuous line.

The follow-up time was investigated. The aim of this analysis was to create a formula that allows the follow-up time calculated using the most important external parameters. The studies were based on empirical data collected at small roundabouts localized on Upper Silesia. The follow-up time is the average time gap between two cars of the minor stream being queued and entered the same major stream gap one behind the other. Follow-up times were measured directly by observing traffic flow. Resulting follow-up times were analyzed to determine their dependence on parameters such as intersection layout, roundabouts diameter and left visibility. These parameters were tested using the conventional calculation method (regression analysis). The dependence of follow-up time was then integrated into the own capacity estimation method for small roundabouts localized on urban areas. One of the biggest advantages this dependence is that capacity and traffic flow on small roundabouts can be determined reliably and appropriately for actual situations. The new follow-up time values for all range of external diameters of small roundabout 26 (22) – 40 m have been presented in this article.