Abstract:

In the article there is expressed an idea of privileged role of universities in the process of shaping the new culture for urban mobility. Mobility management of the academic community is adopted in order to indirectly impact a wider group of the population. The aim of the study was to investigate the situation at the Polish universities and the willingness of their authorities to implement integrated tools to manage transportation choices of academic community. Considerations in this article are focused on the role of public universities campuses in influencing transport behaviour patterns of inhabitants of Polish cities.

The conviction of the authors of the privileged role of universities in shaping environment friendly behaviour patterns in society is due to several reasons:
• the academic community is a significant group in the general population (nearly 5%),
• in large Polish cities, the participation of the academic community in the general population is up to 15%,
• students are a social group with a high willingness to adopt new ideas and changes to lifestyle,
• knowledge and values gained in the educational process leaks into the public transmitted by people with higher education employed in various professions.

The article describes a case study of the Gdansk University of Technology, Cracow University of Technology and Silesian University of Technology.

Keywords:

Universities, urban mobility, mobility patterns, mobility management, mobility plans, modal split.