Seminar in Gdynia - summary
Simplification of payment systems for tickets, introduction of electric vehicles, low cost and comfortable travel conditions. These are just some of the proposals to improve public transport in Pomerania, discussed by participants in the INTERCONNECT seminar in Gdynia, on Thursday, 22 February 2018. Conducted in the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia, the event saw the participation ofnearly 60 people from Pomerania (PL), Warmia and Mazury(PL), and Blekinge region (SE). Most of themwere self-government officials, employees of companies responsible for the organization and implementation of passenger transport, representatives of universities, as well as companies that produce devices and software for public transport. The event was organized by representatives of the Swedish Technological Institute Blekinge, based in Karlskrona, and employees of InnoBaltica.
Someone can ask: why Swedes were interested in public transport in Pomerania?The seminar is part of a much broader project! Let's briefly remember what it's all about. The main goal of INTERCONNECT is to develop a common ticketing system allowing multimodal rides, and a uniformed information system for passengers The assumption is that a passenger from Sweden, Denmark or Germany, disembarking from a ferry in Gdynia, ecounters no problems or obstacles to reach inland localities like, for example, Słupsk or Kartuzy, And a tourist from Poland or Lithuania, going ashore in Sweden, movesfreely around the Blekinge region. All this would it possible only through mutual learning , common understanding and capacity building based on the analysis of solutions used in individual partner countries - in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, and of course in Poland. Therefore, study visits were organized to allow members of the project team to test and evaluate those solutions elaborated by each partner country, especially in the communication competences. The final output of the project will be a series of pilot connections, especially on the Pomeranian route - Blekinge region in Sweden.? During the Seminar in Gdynia,, participants were divided into groups to participate in different thematic workshops focused on Pomerania Region:1. Common ticket systems in public transport: ticket type - mobile application, paper, card, etc., information systems;2. Spatial planning and communication (planning of buildings, infrastructure, use of natural areas, etc.);3. Vehicles used in public transport (fuels, engines, etc.) and auxiliary infrastructure (eg roads, charging systems, fuel systems, railways and waterways);4. Legal aspects and models of transport management, models of regional and cross-border cooperation between transport organizers and ticket platform operators;5. Availability and affordability of public transport;6. Environmental aspects: from a resource and renewable energy perspective.7. Added value of public transport.
Finally, each group took stock of the ideas harvested during the workshops. They will be later summariezed and analysed by Experts from the Blekinge Institute of Technology in cooperation with InnoBaltica to prepare a report on new possible and feasiblesolutions in public transport in the project partners’regions.