A Two-Steps Analysis of the Accessibility of the Local Public Transport Service by University Students Residing in Enna

The attention to a sustainable environment and mobility has increased significantly in the last two decades, directly linked to human and economic activities. Such a sustainable agenda can only be implemented through a strong interaction between the economic actors involved, aware of the transport choices and their consequences. Similarly, a university campus in an urban context requires in-depth studies on the balance between supply and demand for transport dedicated to the university population. These users have different daily or weekly travel times from those of the resident population and travel frequencies that are not always constant. The result is a highly segmented demand for local (LPT) and regional (RPT) transport, which needs to be investigated to improve services and infrastructures and to ensure that all university students can choose sustainable forms of transport and give up using private motorized transport. The present research focuses on assessing the characterization of the resident and university population with domicile in Enna Alta and analysing the public transport offer that allows the connection between Enna Alta and Enna Bassa. Specifically, this study considered a double-step investigation of accessibility in topological and spatial terms by implementing QGIS and isochrone calculation. The research is novel as it highlights the implementation of a system that allows easy tracking of accessibility isochrones through the use of open-source GIS software, which in addition to being free, is highly adaptable to different technical requirements. Findings suggest that only the northeastern part of the city has good accessibility. Similarly, the connection between upper and lower Enna through the LPT service provides valuable indications to local authorities. These authorities could collaborate with the University governing bodies to implement policies of green commuting, trying to enhance public transport and reduce the number of private vehicles by promoting new forms of shared mobility, such as carpooling or car sharing. The results lay the foundations for further comparative studies and provide a starting point for local transport service managers to optimize the sustainable transport offer and therefore allow a reduction in the use of private transport.