Analysis of Sustainable Transport Systems in Service of Selected SEA-EU Consortium Countries’ Airports—A Pilot Case Study of Passenger Choices for Gdańsk Airport

The article presents the results of a pilot study, namely a passenger survey on travel choices regarding commuting to the airport in one chosen location (Gdańsk, Poland). The study aimed at establishing which factors which influenced their travel time, assessment of travel time, choosing more or less sustainable transport mode, and also single-mode or multimodal travel. Research results show that choice of the means of transport influences travel time, that the highest travel times are generated by bus and car travel and that assessing the travel time as acceptable or not depends on travel time. However, the longer the travel time, the more likely was the passenger to accept it. What is more, it appeared that a few factors influence choosing a more sustainable transport mode: the purpose of the trip, the start of the trip to the airport, place of living, and job situation.

Rethinking the Transport Infrastructure-Led Development Model

Transport infrastructure-led development has been well recognized, especially in regard to China’s achievement, which has led to a growing range of programs and initiatives. However, some failures have subsequently raised debates over the effectiveness of such a development model, but existing studies have not yet given satisfactory explanations. This paper aims to provide an effective interpretation from the perspective of sustainable transport infrastructure by rethinking the transport infrastructure-led development model. According to our study, researchers have paid more attention to the development benefits of transport infrastructure and the mechanism, while constraints of different financing sources and patterns on the sustainability of transport infrastructure have been neglected, though financing patterns have drawn much attention. In this paper, we argue that the degree of constraints from financing patterns greatly impact the achievement of development benefits, in which the trade-off between cash-back and long-term benefits is essential for achieving the sustainability of transport infrastructure.