Krakow starts car-pooling within the frameworks of the EU’s Civitas Caravel Program

The Civitas Caravel Program, the EU?s pilot program for realization in Krakow in 2005-2009, aims to increase the quality of living and the general standards and attractiveness of the city. Thanks to the project, the city is becoming more and more European with reliable transport solutions.

Krakow was chosen to participate in the Civitas Caravel Program as a high percentage of the city?s inhabitants commute by public transport — approximately 60 percent.
?Caravel attaches great importance to innovative solutions that have not been applied in Poland, such as the car-pooling system,? said Professor Andrzej Szarata, a local coordinator of the project acting on behalf of the Krakow University of Technology. ?This constitutes one of the four undertakings carried out by our university. We want to develop an Internet database where — once you log into it — you will have the chance to find someone willing to give you a lift by car to work or university. In other words, it?s a system of car-sharing and matching people.?

The system is supposed to make commuting from one?s place of living to the university easier, quicker and cheaper. The car-pooling system is going to be tested in the end of July and the beginning of August, with several dozen students participating. The system should be working efficiently by October.

Fortunately, Krakow?s municipal initiatives are based on experiences of other cities — e.g. Stuttgart. The project will be executed by one student as part of his Master?s degree thesis. The EU program stresses the use of creative solutions for transportation-related problems, many of which are faced on a daily basis. An example is computer programs that show the quickest and easiest route to a certain destination. The cost of installing such a program for use by the public throughout the entire city is roughly 150,000 euro.