Personal safety of passengers during the first phase Covid-19 pandemic in the opinion of public transport drivers in Krakow

The Covid-19 pandemic impact all public spheres of city inhabitants' lives, also changed the conditions of travel-ing by public transport, especially in the field of personal passenger safety. The introduced limits on people in public transport vehicles and the need to maintain social distancing or cover the mouth and nose in a public transport vehicle - for various reasons - have been met with different understanding by users. The question then arose: are passengers actually complying with the rules of the pandemic when traveling by tram or bus? The paper attempts to assess the behavior of passengers, based on the opinions of people who observe these behav-iors in their daily work, driving public transport vehicles. For this purpose, a survey was carried out among bus and tram drivers of the main public transport operator in Krakow. On the basis of 334 fulfilled questionnaires, it was found that - according to the drivers - passengers often quite freely approach the limits of people in vehicles, and often do not respect the social distancing, especially when alighting and boarding. However, what is opti-mistic, the drivers highly assessed their own safety when performing their official duties - which is extremely important in the context of ensuring the continuity of public transport during a pandemic. Only 10% of drivers considered that the current solutions to protect passengers (and drivers themselves) are sufficient, therefore they called for an increase in the scope of protective measures: an increase in the number of public transport courses (to keep existing passengers), the obligatory use of protective masks (instead of ineffective loosely obligation to cover the face and nose), or the introduction of closed driver cabins in buses (as in trams). The obtained re-search results are of a cognitive nature, they can be a supplement to the travel studies at this specific time. They can also provide support in taking action in the case of a return of the Covid-19 pandemic or similar incidents in the future.

Dissecting the two mechanisms of scramble competition among the Virunga mountain gorillas

Two mechanisms have been proposed to explain why scramble competition can increase the travel requirements of individuals within larger groups. Firstly, individuals in larger groups may be more likely to encounter food sites where other group members have already eaten, leading to greater asynchronous “individual” travel to find fresh sites. Secondly, when food sites are aggregated into patches, larger groups may need to visit more patches to obtain the same amount of food per capita, leading to greater synchronous “group” travel between patches. If the first mechanism can be mitigated by increasing group spread, then we expect the second mechanism to be more sensitive to group size. Here, we examine the individual travel and group travel of the Virunga mountain gorillas, along with potential implications for the two mechanisms of scramble competition. Asynchronous individual travel accounted for 67% of the total travel time, and the remainder arose from group travel. Group spread increased significantly for larger groups, but not enough to prevent an increase in individual travel. Contrary to expectations, group travel decreased with size among most groups, and we found only limited evidence of patch depletion that would cause the second mechanism of scramble competition. Collectively, our results illustrate how the influence of group size can differ for individual travel versus group travel, just as it differs among species for overall travel. Studies that distinguish between the two mechanisms of scramble competition may enhance our understanding of ecological constraints upon group size, including potential differences between frugivores and folivores. Significance statement Feeding competition provides insight into how group size can influence the foraging patterns of social animals, but two key mechanisms are not typically compared. Firstly, larger groups may visit more patches to access the same amount of food per capita (group travel). Secondly, their individuals may also need to move past more spots where another member has already eaten (individual travel). Contrary to expectations, we found that group travel decreased with size for most groups of mountain gorillas, which may reflect extra travel by smaller groups to avoid larger groups. Individual travel increased with size in most groups, even though gorillas in larger groups compensated by spreading out over a broader area. The two mechanisms revealed patterns that were not apparent in our previous study of overall travel. Our approach may help to explain potential differences between folivores and frugivores.

Postcolonial Reading of Edmond O’Donovan’s The Merv Oasis

In the context of the Great Game and in throes of Geok-Tepe War in Akhal region located in Turkomania, The Daily Mail sends off Edmond O’Donovan to make the reportage of the Russians’ colonial advancement and their clash with Turkmens, but the Russians’ ban on foreign reporters disrupts his initial plan. As a result, he redirects his way to Merv where the Turkmens capture him. His captors ironically receive him both as prisoner and a ruling member for five months. Meanwhile, he registers his observations and experiences there which later appears in his bestseller travelogue entitled, The Merv Oasis. Despite his involvement with British Imperialism, O’Donovan’s travel book has not received any critical attention from scholars of travel studies. In this regard, this article seeks to address their critical negligence by studying it in the spirit of postcolonial approach. This method is invaluable in two ways. Firstly, it discloses the travel writer’s hidden imperial assumptions through focusing on his surveillance and his description of his travelees’ diseases and their medical treatment. Secondly through clarifying the role of travel writer on Othering his travelees when he deals with their food culture and their supposedly exotic bazaar. On the whole, this reading challenges the innocent façade of O’Donovan’s travelogue and points to his imperial assumptions and cultural baggage which tarnish its impartiality and authenticity.

The Travel Behaviour of Polish Women and Adaptation of Transport Systems to Their Needs

Although knowledge of women’s travel behaviours is essential to guarantee equality in transport, there is still a lack of awareness of gender-differentiated behaviour and gender issues are not often incorporated into urban policy. The aim of the article is to present a first attempt at a wider-scale diagnosis of women’s travel behaviours and needs as well as existing barriers to transportation access for woman in Poland, with respect to current findings. Documents on history, culture, social factors and labour market data were reviewed to indicate factors that may explain travel behaviours. The data of the Travel Studies for seven Polish cities were analysed to diagnose gender differences in travel. Public policies and initiatives were analysed to examine the level of awareness of women’s needs and the adaptation of transport to these needs. The results proved that the greatest differences in the trip purpose was observed for age group 25–49, in which women make more trips for errands, and men for work. Women travel more, which is observed among 25–59-year-olds, if the main occupation is considered. Women travel more on foot and by public transport, while men by private car and the results indicate that it is mostly visible for people aged 25–59. The age groups 39–49 for women and 30–49 for men are the most dependent on the car. The differences may be explained by historical, cultural and social factors, and these factors can be also seen as barriers to achieving equal access to transport. A low level of awareness of women’s mobility needs is one of the reasons that Polish transport systems are not fully adapted to their needs.

Evaluation of a Recessive Male Floret Color in Cultivated Northern Wild Rice (Zizania palustris L.) for Pollen-Mediated Gene Flow Studies

Northern wild rice (NWR; Zizania palustris L.) is a wind-pollinated, annual, aquatic grass that grows naturally in the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of the United States and Canada, and is also cultivated in flooded paddies, predominantly in California and Minnesota. A better understanding of pollen-mediated gene flow is needed within the species for both conservation and breeding efforts as cultivation occurs within the species natural range and spatially-isolated, paddy structures are limited within breeding programs. Widely cited pollen travel research in NWR demonstrated that pollen could travel at least 3200m. However, a population segregating for male sterility was used as the pollen recipient in the study and was determined to not be adequate for NWR pollen travel studies. Here, we present the characterization of a recessive white male floret (WMF) population in contrast to the dominant, purple male floret (PMF) color of cultivated NWR along with estimates of pollen-mediated gene flow in a cultivated paddy setting. Studies conducted in 2018 and 2019 revealed that the primary amount of pollen-mediated gene flow occurred within the first 7m from the PMF donor source with no gene flow detected past 63m. These results suggest that the likelihood of pollen-mediated gene flow between cultivated NWR and natural stands remains low. We also identified a strong linkage between male floret, auricle, and culm color. This study demonstrates that the WMF trait is an excellent candidate for use in pollen-mediated gene flow studies in NWR.

Family Identity Bundles and Holiday Decision Making

As the main contributor to leisure vacations, family travel is an important topic in academia; however, limited tourism research has addressed the subject. Most family travel studies have focused on who makes the decision with comparatively little attention paid to how. The present study argues that family travel decision making is determined by interactions between different individual, relational, and family identities using various communication approaches. Based on the family identity bundle framework, this research employs a longitudinal qualitative approach to examine 28 Chinese families’ summer holiday decision-making processes. The results indicate that two moderators (relationships with extended family and involvement in social groups through social media) strengthen the influence of identity bundles on decision making, as do different communication forms on decisions. Findings from this study contribute to the body of knowledge on family tourism decision making and provide suggestions for family tourism promotion.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Autonomous Vehicles for Commute Trips: An Analysis with the 2015 and 2017 Puget Sound Travel Surveys

The emergence of autonomous vehicles (AVs) may shape the future landscape of urban mobility. Although there is a growing literature on public opinions with regard to self-driving, little attention has been explicitly given to the commuters and their preferences for their commute trips. Using data from the 2015 and 2017 Puget Sound Regional Household Travel Studies, this study investigates the factors associated with employees’ propensity for using AVs. We develop a bivariate ordered probit model to jointly estimate the determinants of levels of interest in (i) commuting alone using AVs and (ii) commuting with others using shared AVs. Not surprisingly, it was found that current solo drivers are more likely to commute alone using AVs compared with other mode users. Significant differences were not found between current drivers and other commuters when it comes to the potential use of shared AVs. The results also reveal that, controlling for other factors, commuters surveyed in 2017 are less likely to be interested in shared AVs compared with their 2015 counterparts. The conclusion is that more planning efforts are needed to support the market penetration of shared AVs.

Literary Tourist Guides as a Form of New Literary History. A Popular Genre in the Field of Professional Literary Knowledge

Literary historiography is not indifferent to phenomena that are of key importance to contemporary culture and the humanities, including tourism and travel writing/travel studies. By trying to incorporate the ways a contemporary person experiences the world, literary history uses narrative strategies that are typical of current travel discourse-e. g. of a tourist guide. A tourist guide is an applied genre and also a cultural representation of the literary past of a city or region. The central category for literary tourist guides is space and mobility (rather than timelines and other figures important in a grand literary history). Space functions here as the subject of narration and as the basic principle that orders the material. In that context, the form of a tourist guide is a way of presenting the literary past, remembering the history of the city and its literary works, the lives of writers. Adapting a tourist guidebook for the needs of literary history results from the fact that everyday practices, such as travel and walking, influence professional forms of knowledge. This article shows how academic knowledge (here: literary history) can be learned and popularised by means of a non-academic genre (here: literary tourist guides).

What drives car use? Modelling psychological determinants of travel mode choice

Car emissions have significant detrimental environmental and health impacts, and many journeys could be undertaken using alternative transport. Effective transport policy necessitates identification of potentially modifiable determinants of driving. This thesis identified psychological underpinnings of decisions to drive. Study 1 used qualitative ‘grounded theory’ analysis to detail commuters’ reasons for driving, and highlighted misconceptions and biases underpinning these motives. In study 2, we developed quantitative measures of the concepts identified in study 1, and tested these as determinants of decisions to commute by public transport alongside variables from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). Results showed that the inductive concepts were best modelled as determinants of attitude and control perceptions, and demonstrated the superiority of established deductive concepts. A meta-analysis of the extant literature (study 3) showed a dearth of available evidence of correlates of driving. Strong associations with behaviour were found for intention and habit, and TPB cognitions relating to not driving showed stronger effects on intentions than did TPB variables relating to driving. There were also effects for descriptive and personal norms. Using an extended TPB model, study 4 demonstrated that the motivation to make local journeys by car was informed by cognitions relating to car and to non-car travel, and descriptive and personal norms. Environmental beliefs informed personal norms and attitudes to non-car travel. Studies 5-7 explored habit in commuting mode choice: study 5 developed a new self-report habit measure, which in studies 6 and 7 was used in comparison with existing habit indices to predict car and bicycle commuting among UK and Dutch samples respectively. Findings revealed the superiority of an existing habit measure, and pointed to the habitual nature of commuting mode choice. The seven studies highlighted motivational and volitional determinants of driving, and suggest various intervention strategies to reduce car use.

Itinerant Knowledge Production in European Travel Writing

Travel is a special form of human mobility that is subject to different historical conditions and one that, deliberately or not, always entails knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer. Travel facilitates the encounter with peoples, ideas, and material artifacts. In the age of Enlightenment, the nexus between travel and knowledge gained a new intensity, as the movement beyond the known turned into a specific scientific project with manifestations in theoretical reflection as well as literary practice. In the special section on Travel Writing and Knowledge Transfer contributors from the fields of Literary and Travel Studies investigate how human mobility gains epistemic significance in the exploration of nature and foreign cultures. Th e articles focus on conditions and forms of knowledge production while traveling (itinerant knowledge). They analyze how observations, experiences, and reflections made on the move are molded and transformed in fiction and nonfiction, and they discuss the impact on European cultural and intellectual horizons.