Regional specialties of bus transport in South Transdanubia and Vojvodina

Abstract

This study aims to highlight the specialties and differences between two selected regions (South Transdanubia and Vojvodina) in terms of bus transport and to identify special factors which are interpreted according to their (natural and social) environments. Furthermore the paper discusses those elements which play an important role in the development of public transport.

The innovation of public transport is not only beneficial to the environment (reducing air pollution), society (better living conditions, less time spent travelling, lower risk of accidents), but the development of public transport is also economy-stimulating, because it allows people who live far from a workplace to find employment although they have to bear the higher cost of commuting. Public transport is important mainly for the group of inhabitants that earns lower wages, since those whose income is higher can rely on different personal traveling methods, while poor people do not. Taking into account this difference between the wages and financial circumstances of inhabitants, an analysis of the regional effects of bus transport can offer significant insights.

It is important to mention that the difference of public transport in the two regions examined cannot be explained by physical circumstances, e.g. the hilly terrain in Transdanubia, but there are other correlations in society (population rates, wars, effects of economic crisis, different organisation of transport). All of these characteristics cause marked differences in public bus transport of South Transdanubia and Vojvodina.

The first step of investigation was to compare the quality of bus transport services. There are significant differences between the regions. The question is whether the poor infrastructure causes the backwardness of regions or if it is just vice versa as poverty may explain a low level of public bus services. The causes and consequences may well be interchangeable. In order to provide some clarification and to identify regional differences, bus timetables of each region were analysed, and the results were interpreted on a map.

In the last few years some spatial centres appeared in terms of public transport, which centres are the most active junctions of the whole network. With the help of public-transport development (modernisation of bus stations, road-building, offering new working opportunities, improving social services) the differences between developed and backward regions will decrease, which would have a positive effect on the evolution of the regions concerned, or even both countries.