Excursion to Kutná Hora
How can public transport systems be designed to be attractive, efficient and sustainable? Students and lecturers from the ‘Friedrich List’ Faculty of Transport Sciences found answers to this question during a study trip to Prague and Central Bohemia. A particular highlight of the programme was a visit to the historic town of Kutná Hora.
Kutná Hora as a model for integrated mobility
This town in Central Bohemia, with a population of around 21,000, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is also regarded as a remarkable example of a well-organised local public transport system. As part of the field trip, students from the Chair of Railway Operations and the Chair of Public Transport visited the town to gain first-hand insight into the planning, organisation and further development of local public transport.
Kutná Hora has a frequent and fully integrated network of city and regional transport services. City buses run every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes at weekends. The service is supplemented by numerous regional bus routes, which ensure good access to the surrounding communities. The city thus provides a clear example of how even smaller towns can create attractive transport services through consistent planning and integration.
During their stay, the guests from Dresden were welcomed by representatives of the city council and gained an insight into the development of public transport in recent years. The focus was on the integration of bus services, the organisation of operations, and measures to make the service more attractive to passengers. The challenges of local transport planning were also discussed during a specialist presentation. The local newspaper Kutnohorské listy also reported on the visit, highlighting the Dresden students’ interest in the city’s successful mobility concepts..
Learning from real-world transport systems
The visit to Kutná Hora illustrates how international field trips enable students to look beyond their own horizons and provide them with valuable insights for their future careers. At the same time, it demonstrates how modern transport science helps to understand, further develop and apply successful mobility concepts to other regions.
