Activities in Poland
Mazowieckie Voivodeship promoted public transport usage by rewarding young people and including them in decision-making process.
Creating a positive opinion and a relationship about/to something is done from the young age. Often, public transport has negative connotations, as slow or unreliable. Since the technology started to progress, it slipped in all the sectors, especially transport sector and changed that. Information is available in real-time and young people's need to know everything they want is satisfied.
But that is not enough. Nowadays, more than ever, young people want to be rewarded for their actions and behavior.
This is why Mazowieckie Voivodeship (Mazovia) decided to promote mobility among children and young people living in rural areas and to increase their participation in public transport.
How did they do that? By introducing a railway loyalty program “Young traveller”, in cooperation with Mazowieckie Railways. Now, young people, from 13 to 26, can collect points riding the train and use them to reduce the price of their next monthly pass. Mazovia's experiences and opinions collected from young people indicate that the loyalty program should be continued after the pilot period. This initiative has the potential to expand outside the public transport sector as well.
By giving rewards to young people, Mazovia was a step closer to improve their mobility as well as influence their behavior and change their opinion about public transport. But what else could be done? Could they be included into decision-making processes?
Mazovia asked them what is their opinion on how to revitalize an old railway building. The building in question is located near Warsaw, in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. Although this building is used as a small museum, it desperately needs revitalization. Its owner, Warsaw Commuter Railways (railway infrastructure manager and carrier in Warsaw region) knows that and thinks that there should be a place where rail enthusiasts could meet and discuss the development of passenger transport in the region.
But what do young people think? Mazovia explored possibilities to revitalize the building incorporating a meeting place for railway enthusiasts and hobbyists, a separate caffé section where people could drink coffee or eat something sweet and a small playground for children next to the building. The prepared design documentation shows that it is possible to build a new building (in place of the old one) for cultural and educational needs of young people, in the near future.
