A Polish city is testing a scheme by which residents can call a night bus to pick them up at a specific time and place. “After a month of operation, we can see that the idea has worked,” says Arkadiusz Chęciński, the mayor of Sosnowiec.
The night bus, which was introduced on 30 June to replace a regular night tram, can be ordered through a mobile application or by calling the dispatcher. Potential passengers are then informed about possible times when the bus could be at their stop.
At the agreed time the bus then waits at either the usual tram stops or “virtual stops” marked in safe locations for passengers to get on and off. The bus is free while it is being piloted until the end of the year.
The city estimates that 320 passengers took the bus in July, with peak usage on July 12, when the Euro 2020 football championship final took place. So far a total of 389 users have registered for the mobile application and 100 are active.
Most passengers use the bus between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. as well as between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., at which point regular buses begin to operate again. Most people order an hour before their planned ride, according to data collected by the city authorities.
Public transport in Sosnowiec functions as part of the Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia and Dąbrowa Basin area, which combines a number of nearby Silesian cities.
Sosnowiec is the first to introduce the new, more cost-effective way of organising night transport, but if the new system proves successful it may be rolled out to other bus and tram lines.
Main image credit: Konrad Krajewski/Pixabay
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
