The Development of Bike-Sharing Systems in Poland. The Study of Wavelo System in Kraków

The interest in bike transport in Polish cities and towns has been growing systematically in the recent years. A great number of local authorities take various actions to support the development of cycling systems. They make an effort to develop a cycling infrastructure – bike lanes, Bike&Ride type of parking, bike stands and advanced stop lines. An increased interest in bike-sharing systems is visible as well. Apart from that, the authorities implement policies and take other actions which make cycling in a city more convenient. The aim of the article is to characterize the experience of Polish cities in the area of bike transport support, with a special attention to bike-sharing systems. The article presents a comparison of 38 city bike systems. In addition, the Wavelo system in Kraków was studied in detail. Wavelo city bike system is very popular among citizens of Kraków. Despite relatively high prices and the lack of free minutes, the number of system users is growing. A large number of docking stations and their locations make bikes more accessible to citizens. Moreover, Kraków's authorities take action to develop a proper bike infrastructure which increases the interest in cycling as a transportation system. Selected methods of constructing special inserts in the transition zones between the embankment of the railway track and the engineering object (bridge, viaduct, or culvert) were discussed. The purpose of mounting the designed inserts is to eliminate the so-called threshold effect, i.e. continuously creating a mild change in the stiffness of the ground under the track. In addition to the solutions presented in practice, attention was also paid to projects developed by the authors of this article. The results of experimental research constituting the basis for the development of some solutions are also given.