DAILY COMMUTERS IN SLOVENIA
AUTHORS
David Bole, Matej Gabrovec
Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute, Gosposka ulica 13, SI – 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
david.bole@zrc-sazu.si, matej@zrc-sazu.si
UDC: 911.3:331.556.2(497.4) COBISS: 1.01
ABSTRACT
Daily commuters in Slovenia
The paper analyses and explains the phenomenon of daily commutes of workers in Slovenia. The first part of the article presents the daily mobility analysis of workers in the ten biggest employment centers between 2000 and 2009. The results indicate shifts in the daily mobility patterns, which is a result of traffic infrastruc- ture development and socioeconomic changes in the urban system. The second part describes the analysis of the worker’s mode of transportation and the reasons for the regional differences. We may notice con- siderable differences, especially in the distinct decline of public transportation use and the increased motorization of the population. Regional differences are also apparent, particularly in the modal split between the western and eastern part of the country and between larger and smaller towns. This can be explained by varying levels of motorization in individual areas, differences in the public transportation system providers, and numerous ways of work process organization in industrial and service centers.
KEY WORDS
geography of transportation, commuting, modal split, motorization, public transportation, Slovenia IZVLEČEK
Dnevna mobilnost zaposlenih v Sloveniji
Prispevek analizira in razlaga pojav dnevne mobilnosti delavcev v Sloveniji. V prvem delu prispevka je predstavljena analiza dnevne mobilnosti zaposlenih v desetih največjih zaposlitvenih središčih v obdobju med letoma 2000 in 2009. Rezultati kažejo na spreminjanje vzorcev dnevne mobilnosti, zlasti zaradi razvoja prometne infrastrukture in družbenoekonomskih sprememb urbanega sistema. V drugem delu predstavljamo analizo načina prevoza delavcev in regionalne razloge za razlike. Ugotavljamo obsežne spremembe, zlasti v izrazitem upadu javnega prometa in naraščanju motorizacije prebivalstva. Opazne so tudi regionalne razlike, zlasti v »modal splitu« med zahodom in vzhodom države ter med večjimi in manjšimi mesti. To lahko razložimo z različnimi stopnjami motorizacije posameznih območij, razlikami v ponudbi javnega potniškega prometa in različno organizacijo delovnih procesov v industrijskih ter storitvenih središčih.
KLJUČNE BESEDE
prometna geografija, dnevna mobilnost, modal split, motorizacija, javni promet, Slovenija
The article was submitted for publication on July 5, 2011.
ARTICLES
1 Introduction
Human social and economic activities have always been conditioned by movement. The division of labor means the spatial separation of the place of residence and place of work and leads to daily mobil- ity, causes traffic arteries and has a strong impact on the geography of the landscape. The first substantial flows of daily commuting in the developed world date back to the end of the nineteenth century due to the use of the train and other public means of transport; today automobiles have become the com- mon mode of transportation (Dessemontet, Kaufmann and Jemelin 2010). Urry (2007) talks about the real mobility turn that employs many scientific fields, from sociology, spatial planning, transport, his- tory, and others that attempt to explain the reasons for these changes in the mobility of the population.
It is evident that Slovenia has undergone substantial changes regarding structure and the mode of transportation in the last two decades, perhaps even more so than in other countries. The number of registered automobiles has nearly doubled from 1985 to 2005, the percent of workers who use public transport for their daily commuting has decreased from over 64% in 1981 to just 10% in 2001. This has led to increased greenhouse gas emissions of the road traffic in Slovenia, reaching 5,000,000 tons in 2006, which is a 429% increase compared to the year 1986. The exterior traffic costs are according- ly high as well, ranging from 6 to 10% of the entire GDP of Slovenia, with passenger road traffic taking the lead (Božičnik et al. 2004; Plevnik 2008). The impact of the population’s increased mobility is also expressed in other ways, not only from the environmental or economic aspect. The automobile-based traffic network is causing the formation of dispersed settlements with a low population density and the subsequent construction of a wasteful traffic and communal infrastructure (Bole 2004 and Uršič 2006).
This paper describes the numeric and spatial changes in worker’s mobility in the last decade. The aim is to examine whether the construction of the motorway network as an important factor enabling daily mobility has caused greater mobility flows to employment centers. We will focus on the shifts in the scope of workers’ mobility, specifically their numerousness and their alterations to the spatial scope.
We will also analyze the daily commuters according to their chosen mode of transportation. The analy- sis encompasses the entire surface of the country and evaluates the workers’ daily commutes in various directions and according to their choice of transportation (modal split). There are considerable dif- ferences in choice of transport that differ according to geographical area in Slovenia; for this reason, we tried to determine why regional differences in use of public transport occur with daily commuters.
2 Daily mobility analyses from 2000 to 2009
The main source for the illustration of the employment centers’ attraction between 2000 and 2009 is the Statistical Register of Employment (SRDAP 2010), where employed persons are listed by place of work and place of residence. However, these registers raise some questions about their exactness.
Inconsistencies occur because some companies with several branches or affiliates in various settlements list the seat of the company as the same place of work for all their employees. Discrepancies in place of residence happen because some inhabitants do not state their permanent residence at the address they are actually living. The order of magnitude in these flaws is estimated at 10%. The quality of the data is further analyzed in the monograph Daily mobility of workers in Slovenia(Gabrovec and Bole 2009).
There is a relatively larger margin of error in some routes where the actual number of commuters is low and the distance between place of work and place of residence is 100 km or more. This problem was quickly solved by simply removing the routes with a suspiciously high number of daily commuters Figure 1: Attraction of the ten biggest employment centers in 2000.p
Figure 2: Attraction of the ten biggest employment centers in 2009.pstr. 174
Figure 3: Change of employment centers’ attraction from 2000 to 2009 in relative values.pstr. 175
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BRDA
LUČE
GRAD MUTA ŽIRI
RUŠE BLED
PTUJ ZAVRČ DOBJE
HODOŠ BLOKE
TABOR
KUZMA VIDEM KOMEN
KOZJEKANAL
BOVEC NAKLO ŠTORE SEMIČPIVKA
ZREČE TRZINLAŠKO
TRŽIČ ŽALEC KRŠKO IZOLA
KRANJCELJE KOSTEL
ŽETALE
TIŠINA DOBRNA
STARŠE
VERŽEJ HORJUL
DUPLEK VODICE DIVAČA
VIPAVA
CERKNO
BOHINJVOJNIK RADEČE
LENART MEŽICA TOLMIN SEŽANA
IDRIJA
LITIJA
KAMNIK ŠKOCJAN
SOLČAVA
KUNGOTA
CANKOVA KOBILJE VRANSKO
HAJDINA
PESNICA MORAVČE
VITANJE NAZARJE KOBARID
ŠENTILJ ROGATEC
ODRANCI MOZIRJEŠOŠTANJ TREBNJE METLIKA
LENDAVA RIBNICA
SEVNICA
MEDVODE BREŽICE
VRHNIKA LOGATEC KOČEVJE OSILNICA
JURŠINCI
PODVELKA KRIŽEVCI JEZERSKO MAJŠPERK
MISLINJA
LJUTOMER CERKNICA ČRNOMELJ
HRASTNIK POSTOJNA
JESENICE TRBOVLJE
SVETA ANA
ROGAŠOVCI PODLEHNIK MIRNA PEČ
DOBROVNIK ŽUŽEMBERK
KIDRIČEVO BOROVNICA
RAČE-FRAM ŽELEZNIKI
DRAVOGRAD GROSUPLJE
LJUBLJANA DOBREPOLJE
CERKVENJAK PODČETRTEK ŠENTJERNEJ
RADOVLJICA AJDOVŠČINA NOVO MESTO
SVETI JURIJ LOŠKI POTOK
GORNJI GRAD ŠKOFJA LOKA NOVA GORICA LOŠKA DOLINAVELIKE LAŠČE PIRAN/PIRANO
KRANJSKA GORA HOČE-SLIVNICA HRPELJE-KOZINA
IVANČNA GORICA
SLOVENJ GRADEC
GORNJI PETROVCI MORAVSKE TOPLICE SELNICA OB DRAVI ČRNA NA KOROŠKEM ŠEMPETER-VRTOJBA ILIRSKA BISTRICA
DOLENJSKE TOPLICE
MIREN-KOSTANJEVICA
GORENJA VAS-POLJANE Authors of the content: Matej Gabrovec, David Bole Authors of the map: David Bole, Manca Volk Source: Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, SRDAP 2010 © Anton Melik Geographical institut ZRC SAZU
Number of employees commuting to employee center from 50 to 100 from 100 to 250 from 250 to 500 from 500 to 1000 above 1000 0255012.5km
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BRDA
LUČE
GRAD MUTA ŽIRI
RUŠE BLED
PTUJ ZAVRČ DOBJE
HODOŠ BLOKE
TABOR
KUZMA VIDEM KOMEN
KOZJEKANAL
BOVEC NAKLO ŠTORE SEMIČPIVKA
ZREČE TRZINLAŠKO
TRŽIČ ŽALEC KRŠKO IZOLA
KRANJCELJE KOSTEL
ŽETALE
TIŠINA DOBRNA
STARŠE
VERŽEJ HORJUL
DUPLEK VODICE DIVAČA
VIPAVA
CERKNO
BOHINJVOJNIK RADEČE
LENART MEŽICA TOLMIN SEŽANA
IDRIJA
LITIJA
KAMNIK ŠKOCJAN
SOLČAVA
KUNGOTA
CANKOVA KOBILJE VRANSKO
HAJDINA
PESNICA MORAVČE
VITANJE NAZARJE KOBARID
ŠENTILJ ROGATEC
ODRANCI MOZIRJEŠOŠTANJ TREBNJE METLIKA
LENDAVA RIBNICA
SEVNICA
MEDVODE BREŽICE
VRHNIKA LOGATEC KOČEVJE OSILNICA
JURŠINCI
PODVELKA KRIŽEVCI JEZERSKO MAJŠPERK
MISLINJA
LJUTOMER CERKNICA ČRNOMELJ
HRASTNIK POSTOJNA
JESENICE TRBOVLJE
SVETA ANA
ROGAŠOVCI PODLEHNIK MIRNA PEČ
DOBROVNIK ŽUŽEMBERK
KIDRIČEVO BOROVNICA
RAČE-FRAM ŽELEZNIKI
DRAVOGRAD GROSUPLJE
LJUBLJANA DOBREPOLJE
CERKVENJAK PODČETRTEK ŠENTJERNEJ
RADOVLJICA AJDOVŠČINA NOVO MESTO
SVETI JURIJ LOŠKI POTOK
GORNJI GRAD ŠKOFJA LOKA NOVA GORICA LOŠKA DOLINAVELIKE LAŠČE PIRAN/PIRANO
KRANJSKA GORA HOČE-SLIVNICA HRPELJE-KOZINA
IVANČNA GORICA
SLOVENJ GRADEC
GORNJI PETROVCI MORAVSKE TOPLICE SELNICA OB DRAVI ČRNA NA KOROŠKEM ŠEMPETER-VRTOJBA ILIRSKA BISTRICA
DOLENJSKE TOPLICE
MIREN-KOSTANJEVICA
GORENJA VAS-POLJANE Authors of the content: Matej Gabrovec, David Bole Authors of the map: David Bole, Manca Volk Source: Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, SRDAP 2010 © Anton Melik Geographical institut ZRC SAZU
Number of employees commuting to employee center from 50 to 100 from 100 to 250 from 250 to 500 from 500 to 1000 above 1000 0255012.5km
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BRDA
LUČE
GRAD MUTA ŽIRI
RUŠE BLED
PTUJ ZAVRČ DOBJE
HODOŠ BLOKE
TABOR
KUZMA VIDEM KOMEN
KOZJEKANAL
BOVEC NAKLO ŠTORE SEMIČPIVKA
ZREČE TRZINLAŠKO
TRŽIČ ŽALEC KRŠKO IZOLA
KRANJCELJE KOSTEL
ŽETALE
TIŠINA DOBRNA
STARŠE
VERŽEJ HORJUL
DUPLEK VODICE DIVAČA
VIPAVA
CERKNO
BOHINJVOJNIK RADEČE
LENART MEŽICA TOLMIN SEŽANA
IDRIJA
LITIJA
KAMNIK ŠKOCJAN
SOLČAVA
KUNGOTA
CANKOVA KOBILJE VRANSKO
HAJDINA
PESNICA MORAVČE
VITANJE NAZARJE KOBARID
ŠENTILJ ROGATEC
ODRANCI MOZIRJEŠOŠTANJ TREBNJE METLIKA
LENDAVA RIBNICA
SEVNICA
MEDVODE BREŽICE
VRHNIKA LOGATEC KOČEVJE OSILNICA
JURŠINCI
PODVELKA KRIŽEVCI JEZERSKO MAJŠPERK
MISLINJA
LJUTOMER CERKNICA ČRNOMELJ
HRASTNIK POSTOJNA
JESENICE TRBOVLJE
SVETA ANA
ROGAŠOVCI PODLEHNIK MIRNA PEČ
DOBROVNIK ŽUŽEMBERK
KIDRIČEVO BOROVNICA
RAČE-FRAM ŽELEZNIKI
DRAVOGRAD GROSUPLJE
LJUBLJANA DOBREPOLJE
CERKVENJAK PODČETRTEK ŠENTJERNEJ
RADOVLJICA AJDOVŠČINA NOVO MESTO
SVETI JURIJ LOŠKI POTOK
GORNJI GRAD ŠKOFJA LOKA NOVA GORICA LOŠKA DOLINAVELIKE LAŠČE PIRAN/PIRANO
KRANJSKA GORA HOČE-SLIVNICA HRPELJE-KOZINA
IVANČNA GORICA
SLOVENJ GRADEC
GORNJI PETROVCI MORAVSKE TOPLICE SELNICA OB DRAVI ČRNA NA KOROŠKEM ŠEMPETER-VRTOJBA ILIRSKA BISTRICA
DOLENJSKE TOPLICE
MIREN-KOSTANJEVICA
GORENJA VAS-POLJANE Authors of the content: Matej Gabrovec, David Bole Authors of the map: David Bole, Manca Volk Source: Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, SRDAP 2010 © Anton Melik Geographical institut ZRC SAZU
Difference among the number of employees between 2000 and 2009 (in %) –10% and less from –10% to +10% from 10% to 100% from 100% to 200% above 200% 0255012.5km
between very remote municipalities (for example Lendava–Ljubljana) and not taking them into account. We determined the elementary spatial unit to be the municipality, more precisely, the 192 munic- ipalities as they existed in 2000 and we then examined the commuter flows for the ten largest employment centers in Slovenia. The power of the employment centers, also described as the scope of daily mobility, was illustrated by connecting the originating municipality with the target municipali- ty with a straight line (route). This is a simple method used to examine the regional composition and the power of individual employment centers and their spatial scope. The maps show (Figures 1 and 2) all the one-way routes with more than 50 commuters.
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the daily mobility of workers in 2000 and 2009. The workers’ commute routes show the extensive range especially to Ljubljana, in part also Maribor and Celje. In addition, there proved to be important connections between the employment centers that lie closer to one another.
A high level of commuters’ spatial mobility was observed especially to the north of Ljubljana in the Ljubljana Basin due to the high level of urbanization or metropolization (Ravbar 1997, 86) and the well-developed motorway and railway connections. A similar conclusion could be drawn in the Drava Plain, where in addition to Maribor, Ptuj was determined to be an important secondary employment center. In 2009 we could observe the expansion of the spatial »scope« of individual employment cen- ters into neighboring municipalities, as well as an increase in the number of commuters between the employment centers themselves. Such are the routes Koper–Ljubljana, Celje–Ljubljana, and Novo mesto–Ljubljana. The most evident reason may be the construction of traffic infrastructure, specifi- cally the completion of motorway sections between these centers. It is interesting to note that besides being a target municipality, it has also become the originating municipality of workers: the number of workers on the routes Ljubljana–Celje and Ljubljana–Koper has more than doubled in the years from 2000 to 2009 (from 200 to approximately 400 workers).
The employment centers Ljubljana and Maribor stand out as the ones with the most increased scopes.
It is interesting to note that the scope of the routes in both cases did not only move along the newly-con- structed motorway sections, but also along areas where the traffic connections did not improve substantially. In the case of Ljubljana’s attraction, an increase can be noticed in the municipalities to the south and in Maribor to the north of the city.
Figure 3 displays the changes in attractiveness according to relative values (shares). It illustrates even more clearly the routes where the biggest changes in worker’s mobility occurred. The most noticeable increase can be observed on the route Ljubljana–Celje, where the worker’s mobility scope more than doubled in 2009 in comparison to 2000. A 100% increase could also be noted in the worker flows from the Slovenian Littoral, Lower Sava Valley and Lower Carniola regions towards Ljubljana. Important motorway sections had been completed on all the mentioned routes, which enabled better accessibil- ity in the direction of Ljubljana. Other employment centers also saw certain alterations; however, these were not as distinct when compared to Ljubljana. A decrease could be noted only on routes that once lead to important industrial companies. This is an example of shifting the currents of workers’ daily mobility combined with economy restructuring from the manufacturing to the service sector; the decrease of mobility to industrial centers was namely followed by an increase in mobility to service centers.
2.1 Reasons for shifts in workers’ daily mobility
Improvement of objective and subjective traffic accessibility:
The first characteristic is that motorway construction obviously influences a consequential increase of the workers’ scope of mobility. The maps indicate axes where the number of employed commuters increased drastically in absolute as well as in relative values. This refers specially to the following axes:
Koper–Ljubljana, where the completion of the motorway section to the town of Koper shortened the travel time by approximately 15 minutes, which is psychologically evidently enough to remove the
»resistance« when contemplating commuting to work.
