City of Gdansk/ Gmina Miasta Gdańska

Gdansk has a thousand-year history at the crossroads of important commercial and communication routes. It is the largest city in the Pomerania region of northern Poland with about 458,000 inhabitants and 262 km2 and furthermore, it is a popular coastline tourist destination.

The city was a member of the Hanseatic League and remains a major shipping port and shipbuilding center until today. Gdansk’s economy is currently undergoing structural changes. The trend of people moving to the suburbs increases the mobility demand and the municipality is determined to contain the traffic from private cars in the city center. During the last decade the authorities changed their approach to mobility from a car-oriented to a sustainable one.

A lot of importance is given to increase walking, cycling and the development of public transport. The city is working on a mobility plan that looks towards modernising trams and bus services, improving the safety and security on roads and public transport, as well as traffic management to reduce congestion in the city center. Gdansk is one of the first polish cities where the historical center is a LTZ. Only residents and fright delivery services can access the zone. However the only access restriction devices used are signs which are not efficient enough in the enforcement of the restriction policies, as many people (e.g. tourists) access the zone unauthorized.

The City of Gdansk is coordinating the Integrated Territorial Investment Partnership which includes 36 partners among municipalities from the Metropolitan Area. According to this strategy, the partnership will introduce integrated management system for transport, network for local transport hubs oriented for rail/bicycle integration and an integrated bicycle rented system.