Mobility strategies of residents in the rural areas of Brzozów municipality in the context of changing public transport accessibility

Movement is a process that accompanies every human being. It results from the uneven distribution in space of the goods and services necessary to meet the basic needs of life. In addition to these, a person also needs an environment and relationships with other people, who do not always live in the same area. This paper examines the relationship between spatial accessibility and the modes of movement of inhabitants of non-metropolitan rural areas, where major changes in the functioning of the public transport system have been taking place. The topic of mobility is central to understanding how people function, both individually and in society. Mobility depends on several factors with accessibility being one of the most important. The study used the author’s accessibility index and analysed a survey of a large sample of residents. The accessibility of public transport in the municipality of Brzozów has not changed significantly between 2015 and 2019 but improved in some villages and declined in others. The types of mobility strategies adopted by residents in the rural part of the municipality of Brzozów are closely related to the accessibility of public transport. The car, used primarily in the role of driver, is the most important means of transport in the municipality. The car in the role of driver or passenger, is most often used in the poorly accessible villages within the municipality. Public transport plays the greatest role in the villages where its accessibility has improved the most in recent years.