Recreation bus lines during COVID-19
About this good practice
The City of Kraków in spring od 2021 decided to start project called: Recreation Bus Lines, which was one of the activities of the project “Krakow in shape”. The city run this project, after months of lockdowns caused by COVID-19 , to encourage people to go out, to discover neighborhood of Krakow and, above all improve the mental state of citizens.
At the beginning, inhabitants could get Niepołomice Forest, National Park in Ojców, Krakow’s valleys and Wolski Forest. In summer city add popular swimming lakes. At the end of July, it was also possible to travel by bus to the commune of Krzeszowice with mutual recognition of tickets with trains. The lines finished operated in middle of October.
Most of this places, are not available by public transport. The lines operated in weekends with good weather. People with network ticket could use this lines without extra fee, no matter if ticket was for example only zone for 1 or zone 2. For other people was standard city ticket. Transport has been adapted to the restrictions related to COVID-19 (face masks, keeping the distance, disinfections in-out, limits of passengers).
The practice is extremely important due to the increasing number of people in Europe with mental problems after the several lockdowns caused by COVID-19.
Resources needed
3 persons were involved in the project in the Public Transport Authority, performing at the same tasks other duties. They devoted ca. 240 hours to these tasks. The preparation of routes lasted ca. 2 months. It included: Additional costs included cost of building new bus stops where necessary.
Evidence of success
During the entire period of the operation of the services, 200 000 passengers used them. The interest in the offer grew gradually over the months of the line's operation, and the most popular were lines no. 134 to Wolski Forest and no. LR0 to Ojców National Park. Because of this success the city wants to launch recreation lines also the next year. It is worth emphasizing that the organization of additional transport during pandemic had a very positive effect on the mental health of inhabitants.
Potential for learning or transfer
This good practice is easily transferable.
Probably there is a lot of cities, where there are green areas in the region without public transport or directly connections. The Krakow success shown that people would like to use this connections during the lockdown.
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.